Decisive   Dates  /"» 
Illinois  History 

A  Story  of  the  Statue 


Told    in    a    Record     of     Events     which 

have   Determined   the   History  of 

Illinois    and   of   the    Nation 


With  Thirty  Illustrations 
By 

Lottie  E.  Jones 

Author  of 

Library  Method  Applied  to 
State  History 


1909 

LLINOIS    PRINTING    COMPANY 
DANVILLE,    ILLINOIS 


[COPYRIGHT,   1904,  BY  LOTTIE  E.  JONES] 


IN    LOVING    MEMORY    OF 

MOTHER 

MRS.    CHARLOTTE    JONES 
WHOSE     PATRIOTISM    AND    LOYALTY 

TO    OUR    COUNTRY 
\Q  HAS    BEEN    THE    INSPIRATION 

TO    ALL    MY 
HISTORICAL    RESEARCH 

0 
0 


DECISIVE    DATES 

IN 

ILLINOIS    HISTORY 


AN  ACKNOWLEDGMENT. 

In  making  this  compilation  of  events  and 
influences  which  have  determined  the  history  of 
Illinois,  I  have  freely  taken  from  many  sources  and 
am  indebted  to  many  authorities. 

I  have  endeavored  to  give  due  credit  for  all 
material  used  and  have  added  a  brief  bibliography 
that  probably  covers  any  further  authority  which 
has  even  indirectly  influenced  statements  made. 
I  desire  to  more  fully  acknowledge  specific  aid  which 
I  have  derived  from  the  Publications  of  the  Illinois 
State  Historical  Society,  particularly  from  the  con- 
tributions of  Clarence  Walworth  Alvord,  of  Dr. 
Snyder,  of  H.  W.  Beckwith,  of  Stuart  Brown,  of 
Daniel  Berry  M.  D.  and  of  J.  O.  Cunningham. 

I  am  also  indebted  to  Olde  Ulster,  Vols.  I.  No.  1, 
II.  No.  4,  and  IV.  No.  1,  for  matter  concerning  the 
Silver  Covenant  Chain.  At  this  same  time,  I  would 
mention  the  work  of  John  Moses,  Illinois  Histori- 
cal and  Statistical,  in  two  volumes,  which  I  have 
frequently  quoted. 

I  desire  also  to  acknowledge  here  my  obligations 
to  the  Illinois  State  Historical  Society  for  use  of 
many  valuable  cuts;  to  Judge  Walter  B.  Douglas, 
President  of  the  Missouri  State  Historical  Society, 
for  the  same  favor,  and  to  the  Chicago  Historical 
Society,  to  A .  C.  McClurg  and  to  Harper  and  Bros. 
for  permission  to  reproduce  and  use  pictures 
belonging  to  them.  For  all  this  aid 

I  am,  gratefully, 

THE  AUTHOR. 


CONTENTS 


Page 

INTRODUCTION — Prehistoric  Illinois 7 

DATE  I.      1673 — Discovery '.  .  .  .  17 

Interim — 1673-1759 39 

LaSalle  Expedition 41 

Forts  Creve  Coeur  and  St.  Louis 42 

Colonial  Days 45 

DATE  II.      1759— The  Silver  Covenant  Chain 51 

Interim— 1759-1778 83 

The  Story  of  Pontiac 85 

End  of  the  Period  of  Romance 87 

British  Domination 88 

DATE  III.      1778 — The  Conquest  of  the  Northwest.  .  94 

Interim— 1778-1818 105 

Illinois  a  County  of  Virginia 107 

The  Indiana  Territory Ill 

The  Territory  of  Illinois 113 

The  Fort  Dearborn  Massacre 115 

DATE  IV.      1818 — Extension  of  Northern  Boundary.  119 

Interim — 1818-1824 125 

Pioneer  Life 127 

DATE  V.      1824 — Defeat   of    Convention    to   Amend 

Constitution 135 

Interim — 1824-1858 145 

The  Black-Hawk  War : .  .  147 

Anti-Slavery  Influences  in  Illinois 149 

DATE  VI.      1858 — The  Lincoln-Douglas  Debates 151 

CONCLUSION — THE  COMMERCIAL  ERA 167 

ADDENDA — THE  GOVERNORS  OF  ILLINOIS.  .                   .  171 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


Page 

THE  PIERRE  MENARD  HOUSE Frontispiece 

THE  MONK'S  MOUND 11 

Louis  JOLIET 21 

FATHER  JACQUES  MARQUETTE 23 

LASALLE'S  MONUMENT 39 

STARVED  ROCK  (SITE  OF  FORT  ST.  Louis) 43 

PIASA  BIRD <. 65 

TABLET  TO  PONTIAC 83 

INDIAN  TRAIL 87 

FATHER  PIERRE  GIBAULT 101 

ARTHUR  ST.  CLAIR Ill 

KASKASKIA 127 

OLD  COURT  HOUSE  AT  KASKASKIA 127 

TAVERN  AT  KASKASKIA 129 

FORT  DEARBORN  MASSACRE  (TABLET) 113 

KlNZIE  HOUSE  AND  FoRT  DEARBORN 115 

FORT  DEARBORN  MASSACRE  (MONUMENT) 117 

MAP  SHOWING  EXTENSION  OF  NORTHERN  BOUNDARY  119 

NATHANIEL  POPE 123 

EDWARD  COLES 137 

MORRIS  BIRKBECK 143 

THE  HARGRAVE  HOUSE 141 

BLACK-HAWK  ROCK 145 

MONUMENT  AT  STILLMAN  VALLEY 149 

SHABBONA 147 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 155 

GEN.  JOHN  M.  PALMER 157 

GOVERNOR  WM.  BISSELL 159 

STEPHEN  A.  DOUGLAS 161 

THE  WIGWAM  .  .163 


PREFACE. 

ILLINOIS,  now  truly  the  "heart  of  the 
nation,"  has  a  proud  present  dayfa  promis- 
ing future  and  an  interesting  past. 

Its  past,  reaching  back  nearly  as  far  as  does 
that  of  the  states  on  the  Atlantic  coast,  has  its 
period  of  romance,  its  period  of  telling  events, 
and  its  period  of  commercial  achievement,  all  of 
which  are  fraught  with  interest. 

There  are  five  events  in  the  history  of  Illinois, 
which  have  proven  strong  factors  in  determin- 
ing the  history  of  the  nation. 

So  important  are  these  events,  that  the  years 
in  which  they  occur,  may  be  called  Decis- 
ive Dates.  These  years  are  1759,  1778,  1818, 
1824  and  1858.  They  lie  within  the  hundred 
years  between  about  the  middle  of  the  eight- 
eenth and  the  nineteenth  centuries. 

In  1759,  the  Indians  from  the  Illinois  Country 
agreed  to  the  compact  already  existing  between 
the  Iroquois  and  the  English  this  compact  hav- 
ing come  to  the  English  as  an  inheritance  from 
the  Dutch.  This  agreement  withdrew  their 
support  from  the  French  at  the  time  when  it 
was  needed  to  sustain  New  France  in  America. 


2  PREFACE 

The  direct  result  of  this  "  being  bound  by  the 
Silver  Covenant  Chain,"  as  the  Indians  called 
the  agreement,  was  the  supremacy  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon  over  the  Gaul  in  the  New  World. 

In  1778,  George  Rogers  Clark  made  his  con- 
quest of  the  Northwest  by  capturing  Kaskaskia 
and  St.  Vincent  in  the  Illinois  Country,  thereby 
restricting  Great  Britain's  domain  to  the  terri- 
tory north  of  the  Great  Lakes  rather  than  the 
Ohio  River.  This  restriction  made  it  possible 
for  the  states  to  preserve  their  dearly-bought 
independence. 

In  1818,  Nathaniel  Pope  had  the  northern 
boundary  of  Illinois  extended  and  secured  a 
coast  line  on  Lake  Michigan,  also  Chicago  in  Illi- 
nois, and  fifty  miles  of  territory  out  of  which 
fourteen  counties  were  created  which  domin- 
ated state  politics  and  decided  national  affairs 
in  1860. 

In  1824,  the  question  of  Illinois  being  made 
a  slave  state  was  settled  for  all  time  by  the 
defeat  of  the  convention  to  amend  the  state 
constitution.  Illinois  as  a  slave  state  would 
have  materially  changed  the  history  of  the 
United  States.  In  1858,  the  Lincoln-Douglas 
debates  marked  an  era  in  the  history  of  the 
union. 

We  do   well  in   this   compilation  to  preface 


PREFACE  3 

these  dates  with  the  one  of  1673,  because  that 
year  marks  the  beginning  of  authentic  history 
of  Illinois — it  is  the  date  of  its  birth. 

Although  it  matters  little  to  the  world  and 
has  had  insignificant  effect  upon  subsequent 
history  of  the  state  or  nation,  that  the  French 
discovered  the  Illinois  country  in  the  seven- 
teenth century,  yet  this  date  is  not  without 
significance. 

There  is  little  reason  to  think  that  the  Missis- 
sippi valley  would  have  attracted  colonization 
from  any  other  European  power  for  a  century 
after  the  time  of  the  discoveries  by  the  French. 

England  had  enough  space  along  the  Atlantic 
coast  for  the  time  being  to  colonize;  Holland 
was  comfortably  settled  on  the  Hudson  river  and 
had  no  desire  to  push  into  the  wilderness  of  the 
west;  while  Spain,  in  seeking  wealth  through 
the  finding  of  precious  metals,  was  led  to  the 
mountains  rather  than  to  the  fertile  plains,  and 
went  further  and  yet  further  west.  So  it  was 
that  France,  and  France  alone,  must  colonize 
the  Illinois  country  if  it  was  to  be  done  for  a 
hundred  years  to  come. 

Yet  the  fact  remains  that  the  discovery  and 
subsequent  hundred  years  of  occupancy  by 
France  was  without  particular  influence  upon 
the  history  of  Illinois. 


4  PREFACE 

The  strongest  searchlight  thrown  upon  that 
period,  fails  to  reveal  any  event  of  special  im- 
portance. It  was  the  period  of  romance. 

There  have  been  many  important  events  in 
Illinois  history  since  1858.  In  the  better  per- 
spective of  coming  years  there  may  be,  here  or 
there,  one  which  will  prove  of  more  than  local 
interest,  and  perhaps  even  of  national  import- 
ance and  merit  the  record  as  a  decisive  date, 
but  in  the  light  of  today  none  such  can  be  dis- 
cerned. 

In  the  following  pages  a  story  of  the  State  has 
been  attempted  to  be  told  by  a  record  of  these 
years  connected  with  each  other  by  brief  state- 
ments of  less  important  incidents. 

This  plan  has  been  followed  for  two  reasons, 
first:  to  give  due  importance  to  these  events, 
and  second,  to  present  them  in  such  a  way  as  to 
make  a  connected  story  which  interests  the 
reader. 

As  far  as  possible,  the  matter  has  been  given 
at  first  hand,  and  Marquette,  Sir  William 
Johnson,  Clark  and  others  have  told  their 
stories  in  their  own  words,  credit  being  given 
them. 

So  condensed  a  history  must  needs  omit  many 
details,  but  it  is  hoped  Decisive  Dates  will 
arouse  so  deep  an  interest  in  the  history  of  UK- 


'PREFACE  5 

nois  as  that  the  reader  may  make  continued 
research  for  himself. 

To  aid  in  this  research,  a  short  bibliography  is 
given. 


INTRODUCTION 

PREHISTORIC  ILLINOIS 


INTRODUCTION 
PREHISTORIC  ILLINOIS. 

ALTHOUGH  authentic  history  of  Illinois 
does  not  begin  until  the  day  in  June, 
1673,  when  Joliet  and  Marquette  as- 
cended the  Illinois  River  yet  there  are  such 
indisputable  evidences  of  life  within  the  area 
now  known  as  the  state  before  this  event 
that  the  time  previous  to  the  Seventeenth 
Century  is  fraught  with  interest. 

For  a  record  of  conditions  and  events  before 
the  coming  of  the  white  man,  we  must  look  to 
the  legends  of  the  Indian,  to  the  relics  of  a 
long  gone  and  vanished  race,  or  read  it  from 
the  great  book  opened  only  to  scientific  re- 
search. 

Geologists  are  able  to  turn  the  "leaves  of 
sandstone  and  limestone"  and  show  us  wonder- 
ful pictures. 

The  first  picture  of  Illinois  is  a  vast  sea  of 
salt  water  with  tiny  forms  of  animal  life,  these 
followed  by  the  shell  fish,  all  working  to  form 
the  foundation  of  physical  Illinois. 

Another  is  the  sea  flowing  away  and  the 
plant  life  appearing,  to  afterward  be  again 
covered  by  the  returning  sea.  These  pictures 
are  repeated  again  and  again,  while  layer  after 


INTRODUCTION  9 

layer  was  formed,  until  a  great  plain  of  solid 
rock  was  made. 

The  next  picture  in  this  wonder  book  is 
the  vast  glacier  coming  down  from  the  North 
with  its  load  of  ground-up  rock  substance  de- 
positing it  as  clay.  We  call  this  the  picture 
of  the  Ice  age,  and  in  it  we  first  see  human 
life  in  this  section  of  country.  These  Ice  people 
are  supposed  to  have  been  very  like  the 
Eskimo  as  they  are  now  known. 

They  may  have  been  the  ancestors  of  the 
Mound  Builders.  No  one  can  know  anything 
definite  about  them,  for  neither  the  wisdom  of 
the  Geologist,  nor  traditions,  can  give  us  any 
authentic  information  on  the  subject.  Here 
and  there  a  stone  implement  is  dug  up  out  of 
the  soil  and  it  brings  a  tale  of  a  human  hand 
which  used  it  thousands  of  years  ago.  There 
are  other  interesting  pictures  for  the  Geologist 
to  show.  The  change  in  the  contour  of  the 
land  after  the  melting  ice  has  formed  the 
channels  of  waterways  and  their  correspond- 
ing elevations — the  slowly  drained  country — 
the  final  surface  of  the  land  as  prairie,  marsh 
and  upland  covered  with  green  grasses,  shrubs 
and  trees,  all  these  come  to  view  as  the  ages 
roll  by. 


10  INTRODUCTION 

The  Indians  who  were  found  by  the  white 
man  had  many  legends,  but  none  which  told 
of  people  living  here  before  their  own  race.  They 
had  nothing  to  account  for  the  strange  mounds 
which  were  found  along  the  banks  of  the 
Mississippi,  Ohio,  Illinois  and  rivers  of  less 
importance. 

But  these  mounds  have  been  excavated  by 
the  white  man  and  from  their  contents  the 
theory  has  been  established  that  the  time 
between  the  supposed  possession  of  the  land 
by  the  Ice  Folk  and  the  coming  of  the  red- 
man  was  not  devoid  of  human  life  in  the  Mis- 
sissippi valley,  but  that  a  race  of  people  of 
perhaps  higher  civilization  than  the  American 
Indian  lived  in  this  region  before  his  coming. 

These  people  have  been  given  the  name  of 
Mound  Builders.  From  the  pottery,  metal 
plates,  and  implements  of  labor  found  in  these 
mounds,  the  people  were  no  doubt  skilled  in  the 
arts  of  peace,  rather  than  being  a  war-like  race, 
such  as  the  American  Indian.  Large  fragments 
of  pottery  have  been  found  in  the  Illinois 
Salines  which  tend  to  prove  the  people  who  once 
lived  there  to  have  distinctly  differed  from  the 
American  Indian,  both  in  skill  and  appearance. 
This  fact  is  suggested  by  the  decoration  on 
the  pottery  found. 


INTRODUCTION  11 

A  curious  mound  was  found  where  the  city 
of  Rockford  now  stands  called  the  Turtle 
Mound.  It  has  never  yielded  anything  of 
particular  value  and  is  supposed  to  mark  the 
southern  limit  of  some  race  or  family.  The  most 
interesting  of  Illinois  mounds  is  located  in 
St.  Clair  County  about  three  miles  north  of 
East  St.  Louis.  It  is  one  of  the  well  known 
Cahokia  mounds. 

This  is  known  as  the  Monks  Mound  because  of 
the  fact  that  at  one  time  there  was  a  monastery 
of  Trappist  monks  located  upon  its  summit. 
It  is  the  largest  of  all  known  mounds.  Numer- 
ous smaller  mounds  are  located  near  to  it.  The 
Monks  Mound  is  oblong  in  shape.  It  is  1080 
feet  long,  710  feet  wide  and  occupies  sixteen 
acres.  This  mound  has  for  some  time  been 
owned  by  a  family  who  guards  the  secret  it  may 
hold  most  jealously.  It  is  not  tilled  as  is  the 
land  adjoining  it,  nor  is  any  one  permitted  to 
make  excavations  to  learn  what  may  be 
found  under  the  soil.  Excavations  were 
begun  here  at  one  time  and  human  bones  of 
unusual  size  together  with  pottery  were  found. 
These  bones  crumbled  upon  being  exposed  to 
the  air. 

Whether  more  light  could  be  thrown  upon  the 
life  and  habits  of  these  little  known  mound 


12  INTRODUCTION 

builders  by  excavating  the  Monks  Mound  and 
those  near  by,  remains  to  be  seen. 

Who  these  mound  builders  were,  whence  they 
came  and  whither  they  went  is  a  problem  which 
never  has  been  and  may  never  be  solved. 
Nothing  definite  is  even  known  concerning  the 
time  they  lived  here. 

The  American  Indian,  whom  the  first  white 
explorer  found,  knew  nothing  of  them.  No 
Indian  legend  accounted  for  the  mounds. 
Whether  the  Mound  Builders  were  identical 
with  the  semi-civilization  of  South  America,  of 
the  Aztecs  of  Mexico,  or  whether  they 'were  a 
different  race  yet  than  they,  can  not  now  be  de- 
termined. There  is  much  evidence  in  southern 
Illinois  of  the  abode,  at  one  time,  of  the  so-called 
Stonegrave  People.  There  is  no  reason  how- 
ever to  think  they  were  the  same  as  the  Mound 
Builders.  These  people  buried  their  dead  in 
graves  lined  and  covered  with  thin  flagstones. 
This  custom  gave  them  the  name  by  which  they 
were  known.  Their  old  graves  are  to  be  found 
in  Georgia  and  thence  in  a  north  west  direction 
through  southern  Illinois  and  across  the  great 
river  into  what  is  now  the  state  of  Missouri. 
Hammered  copper  plates  have  been  found  in 
these  graves  which  are  quite  nearly  like  the  art 


INTRODUCTION  13 

of  Central  America  and  suggests  there  may  be 
some  close  relationship  between  the  people. 

Many  hold  to  the  belief  that  the  Mound 
Builders  were,  after  all,  the  same  race  as  the 
American  Indians.  But  all  that  can  be  known 
has  had  to  have  been  literally  dug  out  of  the 
ground,  and  at  best,  must  ever  remain  a  matter 
of  conjecture.  The  descendants,  if  any,  of 
the  Mound  Builders,  unless  they  really  are  the 
American  Indians,  are  not  known.  Whether 
they  were  or  were  not  the  same  race  as 
the  American  Indians,  all  trace  of  their  identity 
has  entirely  disappeared. 

The  origin  of  the  American  Indian  has  never 
been  satisfactorily  determined.  No  more  is 
known  of  him  before  the  fifteenth  century  than 
is  of  the  "Ice  Folk,"  the  "Stonegrave  People," 
and  the  "Mound  Builders." 

The  records  of  the  sixteenth  century  show 
little  knowledge  of  the  natives  of  the  Mississippi 
valley,  nor,  until  three  quarters  of  the  seven- 
teenth century  was  passed,  can  there  be  found 
anything  upon  which  to  base  theories  of  whence 
they  came.  The  seventeenth  century  deter- 
mined the  Colonization  of  America. 

The  location  of  a  country,  its  natural  re- 
sources, its  means  of  access  and  its  climate,  are 
all  factors  in  determining  its  colonization. 


14  INTRODUCTION 

The  eastern  coast  of  the  New  World  was 
naturally  the  first  attraction  to  settlers  from 
the  Old  World.  Those  from  France  settled 
along  the  St.  Lawrence  River,  and  followed  the 
course  of  the  rivers  toward  the  west.  It  was 
late  in  the  seventeenth  century  that  the  country 
of  the  Illini,  the  territory  now  the  common- 
wealth of  Illinois,  was  discovered,  explored,  and 
to  a  limited  extent  colonized  by  France. 

This  was  the  first  knowledge  the  civilized 
world  had  of  the  Mississippi  valley.  The  com- 
ing of  the  two  Frenchmen,  Marquette  and 
Joliet,  down  the  Mississippi  River  and  into  the 
Illini  Country  in  1673,  was  the  discovery  to  the 
world  of  the  great  water-way  and  fertile  valley 
of  the  new  continent,  through  resources  of 
which  the  promise  of  the  New  World  was  to 
be  made  good. 

Two  strong  motives  led  the  French  into  the 
wilderness.  One  was  the  fur  trade  and  the 
other  was  the  love  of  their  church,  which  sent 
them  as  missionaries  among  the  American 
Indians.  Wherever  a  trading-post  was  located, 
a  mission  was  established.  The  priest  with  his 
altar  on  his  back  went  side  by  side  with  the 
explorer  and  the  trader.  This  was  the  case 
from  the  time  of  the  building  of  Quebec,  the 


INTRODUCTION  15 

first  permanent  settlement  in  New  France, 
by  Samuel  Champlain  in  1608. 

When,  a  half  century  later,  knowledge  of  the 
great  water-way  through  the  center  of  the  con- 
tinent came,  it  was  the  explorer,  the  priest  and 
the  trader  who  went  into  the  new  country  of  the 
Illini. 

America  is  the  only  country  conquered  by  the 
cross  rather  than  the  sword.  Freedom  to  wor- 
ship God  according  to  the  dictates  of  his  own 
conscience,  brought  the  Puritan  to  the  eastern 
coast.  A  desire  to  save  the  souls  of  the  red  men, 
led  the  Jesuit  priests  into  the  wilderness  of  the 
Mississippi  valley. 

Jacques  Carter,  a  Frenchman,  discovered  the 
St.  Lawrence  River  in  1535.  This  gave  France 
a  claim  to  the  region  drained  by  this  river  to 
which  the  name  of  New  France  was  given. 
Settlements  were  made  at  Nova  Scotio  (or 
Acadia  as  it  was  then  called)  but  they  proved 
weak  and  until  in  1806,  when  Samuel  Champlain 
founded  Quebec,  New  France  was  not  very 
promising.  The  wisdom  of  selecting  the  site 
of  Quebec  for  a  colony  was  proven  by  its  ad- 
vantage in  the  fur  trade.  Montreal,  although 
located  by  Champlain,  was  not  built  for  a 
quarter  of  a  century  after  Quebec  was  settled. 
These  colonies  carried  on  so  profitable  a  trade 


16  INTRODUCTION 

in  furs,  that  they  grew  rapidly  and  from  them 
explorers,  traders  and  missionaries  pushed  north 
and  north-west  with  such  energy  that  within 
another  quarter  of  a  century,  trading  posts 
and  missions  were  established  as  far  west  as 
Sault  Ste.  Marie  and  Michilimakanac.  Other 
than  these  missions  and  trading  posts,  there 
were  no  white  men  west  of  the  Allegheny 
Mountains  up  to  the  discovery  of  the  Mississippi 
River  in  1673. 


DATE  I.  1673 
DISCOVERY 


DATE  I.   1673 

EIGHT  years  previous  to  this  date,  Father 
Claude  Allouez  was  sent  to  the  region  of 
Lake    Superior   to   restore   the   mission 
which  had  been  established  years  before  at  the 
cost  of  Father's  Menard's  life.     Father  Allouez 
went  beyond  the  site  of  the  old  mission,  how- 
ever and  built  his  chapel  of  bark  at  Chequa- 
megon  Bay  calling  it  La  Pointe  du  Esprit  or 
Mission  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

A  trading  post  was  soon  established  here 
which  was  sustained  by  the  Indians  from  the 
south  and  west  who  came  from  long  distances. 
Among  them  were  Pottawattomies,  Sacs  and 
Foxes,  Miamis  and  the  Illini  whose  hunting 
grounds  lay  on  both  sides  the  Mississippi  river 
which,  as  yet,  was  an  undiscovered  country 
to  the  whiteman.  These  Indians  doubtless 
brought  tales  of  the  great  river  but  it  was  left  for 
the  successor  of  Father  Allouez  to  call  the 
attention  of  the  civilized  world  to  the  possibili- 
ties of  this  great  water  way  and  the  Illini 
country.* 

Three  years  later  Father  Allouez  was  re- 
moved from  this  mission  to  be  located  elsewhere, 

19 


20  DECISIVE  DATES 

and  Father  James  Marquette  was  sent  to  La 
Pointe  du  Saint  Esprit. 

It  is  from  a  letter  written  by  Father  Mar- 
quette, while  at  this  mission,  to  his  Reverend 
Father  Superior,  preserved  in  the  Relations  for 
1669  and  1670,  that  first  mention  is  made  of  any 
knowledge  of  the  Mississippi  River.  In  this 
letter  Marquette  says:  "When  the  Illini  come 
to  the  Point,  they  pass  a  great  river  which  is 
almost  a  league  in  width.  It  flows  from  north 
to  south  and  is  so  great  a  distance  that  the 
Illini,  who  know  nothing  of  the  use  of  the 
canoe,  have  never  as  yet  heard  tell  of  its  mouth. 
They  dwell  to  the  east-south-east  of  this  river. 
They  gather  corn  twice  each  year.  A  nation 
they  call  Chaouanon*  (Shawnees)  came  to 
visit  them  the  past  summer.  The  young  man 
who  has  been  given  to  me  to  teach  me  the 
language,  has  seen  them.  They  had  to  journey 
across  the  land  for  thirty  days  before  arriving 
at  the  Illini  country.  It  is  hardly  probable  that 
this  great  river t  discharges  itself  in  Virginia. 
We  are  more  inclined  to  believe  that  it  has  its 
mouth  in  California."  J 

The  probable  value  of  this  great  water-way, 
as  yet  unknown  to  the  white  man,  made  the 
exploration  of  the  river  imperative.  The  re- 
ports of  the  length  of  this  river  and  the  fertile 


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Historical  Society 


LOUIS    JOLIET 


DISCOVERY  21 

land  through  which  it  flowed,  reached  the  ears 
of  those  in  authority  at  Quebec  and  Paris,  at- 
tracted their  interest  and  they  deemed  it  ex- 
pedient to  explore  it  to  its  mouth  and  to  learn 
more  of  the  country  of  the  Illini.  To  this  end 
Sieur  Louis  Joliet  was  commissioned  to  go  upon 
such  an  expedition,  and  Father  Dablon  ap 
pointed  Father  Marquette  to  accompany  him. 

Sieur  Joliet  was  "a  man  of  great  experience 
in  these  sorts  of  discoveries  and  had  already 
been  almost  to  that  great  river,  the  mouth  of 
which  he  promises  to  see,"  writes  Count  Fronte- 
nac,  the  Governor  of  Quebec,  to  M.  Colbert, 
Minister  of  the  Navy  at  Paris.* 

Joliet  had  discovered  Lake  Erie.  He  was  a 
man  of  learning,  having  been  educated  for  a 
priest,  but  his  love  of  adventure  had  proven 
stronger  than  his  love  of  study,  and  his  interest 
in  Indian  affairs  deeper  than  either,  so  that  life 
in  the  wilderness  had  lured  the  man  from  the 
cloister.  His  temperament  and  natural  tastes 
contrasted,  yet  harmonized  with  those  of  Father 
Marquette,  and  made  them  staunch  friends,  and 
well  adapted  to  together  undertake  this  ex- 
pedition. 

Jacques  James  Marquette  was  a  devout  and 
zealous  Jesuit  priest  who  makes  record  that 
he  "was  enraptured  at  the  good  news  of 


22  DECISIVE  DATES 

seeing  my  designs  on  the  point  of  being  ac- 
complished, and  myself  in  the  happy  necessity 
of  exposing  my  life  for  the  salvation  of  all 
these  nations,  and  particularly  for  the  Illini, 
who  had  very  earnestly  entreated  me  to  carry 
the  word  of  God  to  their  country,  "t 

Taking  three  Indians,  two  to  act  as  oarsmen, 
and  one  as  guide,  these  two  men  embarked  in 
two  canoes  to  make  a  most  perilous  journey. 
They  left  the  Mission  of  St.  Ignatius  at  Mich- 
ilimakanac,  on  the  17th  day  of  May,  1673. 

Marquette  himself,  had  two  years  previous  to 
this  time,  established  this  mission,  when  he 
left  the  mission  at  La  Pointe  du  Saint  Esprit. 
It  was  the  year  following  the  time  he  wrote  the 
letter  telling  of  reports  concerning  the  Mississippi 
River,  that  he  established  the  Mission  of  St. 
Ignatius.  This  Mission  of  St.  Ignatius  was  not 
on  the  island  of  Mackinaw,  but  on  the  point  of 
land  to  the  west  of  the  island,  extending  from 
the  north  shore  into  the  strait.  The  place  is 
now  called  Point  St.  Ignace. 

This  exploring  party  crossed  Lake  Michigan 
to  the  mouth  of  the  Fox  River.  They  ascended 
the  stream  as  far  as  it  was  navigable,  thence 
carried  their  canoes  across  to  the  Wisconsin 
River.  This  portage,  or  carrying-place,  is  now 


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Historical  Society 


FATHER  JACQUES  MARQUETTE 


DISCOVERY  23 

marked  by  Portage  City  in  Wisconsin.  Rowing 
with  the  current,  down  the  Wisconsin  River, 
they,  in  due  time,  found  themselves  entering 
the  Mississippi  River  with,  to  use  the  words  of 
Marquette  himself  in  his  Journal,  "a  joy  that 
I  cannot  express."*  They  descended  as  far 
as  forty-one  degrees,  twenty-eight  minutes 
north  latitude.  This  journey  had  taken  them 
eight  days. 

Here  they,  to  quote  further  from  the  Journal 
of  Marquette,  t"  perceived  footprints  of  men 
by  the  water-side,  and  a  beaten  path  entering 
a  beautiful  prairie.  Concluding  that  it  was  a 
path  leading  to  some  Indian  village,  we  resolved 
to  go  and  reconnoitre;  we  accordingly  left  our 
two  canoes  in  charge  of  our  people,  cautioning 
them  to  beware  of  a  surprise;  then  M.  Jolly et 
and  I  undertook  this  rather  hazardous  discovery 
for  two  single  men,  who  thus  put  themselves  at 
the  mercy  of  an  unknown  and  barbarous  peo- 
ple. We  followed  the  little  path  in  silence,  and 
having  advanced  about  two  leagues,  we  dis- 
covered a  village  on  the  banks  of  the  river,  and 
two  others  on  a  hill  half  a  league  from  the 
former. 

"Then,  indeed,  we  recommended  ourselves  to 
God  with  all  our  hearts,  and  having  implored 
his  help  we  passed  on  undiscovered,  and  came 


24  DECISIVE  DATES 

so  near  that  we  even  heard  the  Indians  talking. 
We  then  deemed  it  time  to  announce  ourselves, 
as  we  did,  by  a  cry  which  we  raised  with  all  our 
strength,  and  then  halted,  without  advancing 
any  farther.  At  this  cry  the  Indians  rushed 
out  of  their  cabins,  and  having  no  reason  to 
distrust  us,  seeing  we  were  but  two  and  had 
made  known  our  coming,  they  deputed  four  old 
men  to  come  and  speak  to  us. 

"Two  carried  tobacco  pipes  well-adorned  and 
trimmed  with  many  kinds  of  feathers.  They 
marched  slowly,  lifting  their  pipes  toward  the 
sun  as  if  offering  them  to  it  to  smoke,  but  with- 
out yet  uttering  a  single  word.  They  were  a 
long  time  coming  the  little  way  from  the  village 
to  us.  Having  reached  us  at  last,  they  stopped 
to  consider  us  attentively. 

"  I  now  took  courage,  seeing  these  ceremonies, 
which  are  used  by  them  only  with  friends,  and 
still  more  on  seeing  them  covered  with  stuffs 
which  made  me  judge  they  were  allies.  I, 
therefore,  spoke  to  them  first,  and  asked  them 
who  they  were.  They  answered  that  they  were 
the  Illini  (Illinois),  and  in  token  of  peace  they 
presented  their  pipes  to  smoke. 

"They  then  invited  us  to  the  village,  where 
all  the  tribe  awaited  us  with  impatience. 
These  pipes  for  smoking  are  all  called,  in  this 


DISCOVERY  25 

country,  calumets,  a  word  that  is  so  much  in 
use,  that  I  shall  be  obliged  to  employ  it  in  order 
to  be  understood,  as  I  shall  have  to  speak  of  it 
frequently. 

"At  the  door  of  the  cabin  in  which  we  were 
to  be  received,  was  an  old  man  awaiting  us  in  a 
very  remarkable  posture,  which  is  their  usual 
ceremony  in  receiving  strangers.  He  was 
standing  with  his  hands  stretched  out  and 
raised  toward  the  sun,  as  if  he  wished  to  screen 
himself  from  its  rays,  which,  nevertheless, 
passed  through  his  fingers  to  his  face. 

"When  we  came  near  him,  he  paid  us  this 
compliment:  'How  beautiful  is  the  sun,  O 
Frenchman,  when  thou  comest  to  visit  us! 
All  our  town  awaits  thee,  and  thou  shalt  enter 
our  cabins  in  peace!'  He  then  took  us  into  his 
cabin  where  there  was  a  crowd  of  people,  who 
devoured  us  with  their  eyes,  but  kept  a  profound 
silence.  We  heard,  however,  these  words 
occasionally  addressed  to  us,  'Well  done, 
brothers,  to  visit  us!'  As  soon  as  we  had  taken 
our  places  they  showed  us  the  usual  civility, 
which  is  to  present  the  calumet.  You  must  not 
refuse  it  unless  you  would  pass  for  an  enemy,  or 
at  best  for  being  very  impolite.  It  is,  however, 
enough  to  pretend  to  smoke.  While  all  the  old 
men  smoked  after  us  to  honor  us,  some  came  to 


26  DECISIVE  DATES 

invite  us,  on  behalf  of  the  great  sachem  of  all 
the  Illini,  to  proceed  to  his  town,  where  he 
wished  to  hold  counsel  with  us.  We  went 
with  a  good  retinue,  for  all  the  people  who  had 
never  seen  a  Frenchman  among  them,  could  not 
tire  looking  at  us;  and  they  threw  themselves 
on  the  grass  by  the  wayside,  they  ran  ahead, 
then  turned  and  walked  back  to  see  us  again. 
All  this  was  done  without  noise,  and  with  marks 
of  a  great  respect  entertained  for  us. 

"  Having  arrived  at  the  great  sachem's  town, 
we  espied  him  at  his  cabin  door  between  two 
old  men ;  all  three  standing  with  their  calumets 
turned  to  the  sun.  He  harangued  us  in  a  few 
words,  to  congratulate  us  on  our  arrival,  and 
then  presented  us  his  calumet  and  made  us 
smoke;  at  the  same  time  we  entered  his  cabin 
where  we  received  all  their  usual  greetings. 

"  Seeing  all  assembled  and  in  silence,  I  spoke 
to  them  by  four  presents  which  I  made.  By 
the  first,  I  said  that  we  marched  in  peace  to 
visit  the  nations  on  the  river  to  the  sea ;  by  the 
second,  I  declared  to  them  that  God,  their 
creator,  had  pity  on  them,  since,  after  they  had 
been  so  long  ignorant  of  him,  he  wished  to  be- 
become  known  to  all  nations;  that  I  was  sent 
on  his  behalf  with  this  design;  that  it  was  for 


DISCOVERY  27 

them  to  acknowledge  and  obey  him;  by  the 
third,  that  the  great  chief  of  the  French  in- 
formed them  that  he  spread  peace  everywhere, 
and  had  overcome  the  Iroquois;  lastly,  by  the 
fourth,  we  begged  them  to  give  us  all  the  in- 
formation they  had  of  the  sea,  and  of  nations 
through  which  we  should  have  to  pass  to  reach 
it. 

"  When  I  had  finished  my  speech,  the  sachem 
rose,  and  laying  his  hand  on  the  head  of  a  little 
slave  whom  he  was  about  to  give  us,  spoke  thus : 
'I  thank  thee,  Black-gown  and  thee,  French- 
man,' addressing  M.  Jollyet,  'for  taking  so  much 
pains  to  come  to  visit  us.  Never  has  the  earth 
been  so  beautiful  nor  the  sun  so  bright,  as  to-day, 
never  has  our  river  been  so  calm,  nor  so  free 
from  rocks,  which  your  canoes  have  removed  as 
they  passed,  never  has  our  tobacco  had  so  fine 
a  flavor,  nor  our  corn  appeared  so  beautiful  as 
we  behold  it  to-day.  Here  is  my  son  that  I  give 
thee  that  thou  mayest  know  my  heart.  I  pray 
thee  take  pity  on  me  and  all  of  my  nation. 
Thou  knowest  the  Great  Spirit  who  has  made  us 
all ;  thou  speakest  to  Him  and  hearest  His  word ; 
ask  Him  to  give  me  life  and  health,  and  come 
and  dwell  with  us  that  we  may  know  Him.' 
Saying  this,  be  placed  the  little  slave  near  us 


28  DECISIVE  DATES 

and  made  us  a  second  present,  an  all-mysterious 
calumet,  which  they  value  more  than  a  slave. 
By  this  present  he  showed  us  his  esteem  for  our 
Governor,  after  the  account  we  had  given  of 
him.  By  the  third  he  begged  us,  on  behalf  of 
his  whole  nation,  not  to  proceed  farther  on 
account  of  the  great  dangers  to  which  we  ex- 
posed ourselves. 

"  I  replied  that  I  did  not  fear  death,  and  that 
I  esteemed  no  happiness  greater  than  that  of 
losing  my  life  for  the  glory  of  Him  who  made  us 
all.  But  this,  these  poor  people  could  not 
understand. 

"The  council  was  followed  by  a  great  feast 
which  consisted  of  four  courses,  which  we  had 
to  take  with  all  their  ways.  The  first  course 
was  a  great  wooden  dish  of  sagamity — that  is 
to  say,  Indian  meal  boiled  in  water  and  seasoned 
with  grease. 

"The  master  of  ceremonies  with  a  spoonful 
of  sagamity,  presented  it  three  or  four  times  to 
my  mouth,  as  we  would  do  with  a  little  child; 
he  did  the  same  to  M.  Jollyet.  For  the  second 
course,  he  brought  in  a  second  dish  containing 
three  fishes ;  he  took  some  pains  to  remove  the 
bones,  and  having  blown  upon  it  to  cool  it,  put 
it  in  my  mouth  as  we  would  give  food  to  a 
bird.  For  the  third  course  they  produced  a 


DISCOVERY  29 

large  dog  which  they  had  just  killed,  but, 
learning  we  did  not  eat  it,  withdrew  it.  Final- 
ly, the  fourth  course  was  a  piece  of  wild  ox, 
the  fattest  of  the  portions  of  which  were  put  in 
to  our  mouths."* 

After  a  stay  of  a  few  days  Joliet  and  Mar- 
quette  took  their  leave  of  the  Illini  and  con- 
tinued their  way.  Meeting  several  adventurers 
where  the  calumet,  given  them  by  their  Illini 
friends  saved  their  lives,  they  journeyed  on  down 
the  river  seeking  its  mouth. 

The  civilized  world  at  that  time  was  divided 
in  theories  regarding  the  extent  and  direction  of 
this  great  river.  Some  held  it  emptied  into  the 
Atlantic  Ocean,  flowing  through  Virginia,  others 
that  it  flowed  into  the  South  Sea  (as  the  Pacific 
Ocean  was  called)  with  its  course  through  Cali- 
fornia, and  yet  others  that  its  course  was,  as  it 
is,  southerly  and  its  mouth  at  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 
The  principal  object  of  the  expedition  under- 
taken by  Joliet  and  Marquette  was  to  settle 
this  dispute.  About  half  a  league  from 
the  Akansea  (Arkansas)  river,  they  met 
natives  who  told  them  that  the  mouth  of  the 
Mississippi  River  was  but  a  ten  days  journey 
distant.  They  also  learned  of  the  dangers 
ahead,  not  alone  from  the  natives  but  from  the 
Spaniards,  who  at  best  would  likely  take  them 


30  DECISIVE  DATES 

prisoners.  So  it  was  Joliet  and  Marquette  to 
run  no  further  risks  of  losing  to  the  world  the 
knowledge  of  the  country  they  had  already 
gained,  and  figuring  that  they  were  within  two 
degrees  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  began  retrac- 
ing their  way.  When  they  had  come  as  far 
north  as  the  mouth  of  the  Illinois  River, 
Marquette  was  found  too  ill  to  proceed.  Here 
they  learned  from  the  natives  of  a  shorter 
route  than  the  one  they  had  taken  in  coming 
from  Lake  Michigan,  and  they  ascended  the 
Illinois  River. 

The  day  in  the  latter  part  of  July  this 
year  of  1673,  in  which  they  began  their 
ascent  of  the  Illinois  river,  marks  the  begin- 
ning of  authentic  history  of  Illinois.  A  de- 
scription of  the  land  they  found,  with  its 
wealth  of  plant  and  animal  life  as  seen  by 
these  men  reads  like  a  fairy  tale. 

The  long  stretch  of  prairie  over  which  the  eye 
roamed  to  the  sky-line,  with  its  waving  grass, 
presented  a  picture  as  beautiful  and  as  awe- 
inspiring  as  must  have  been  the  outlook  to  the 
Pilgrims  in  mid-ocean,  or  the  first  sight  of  the 
Great  Lakes  to  the  white  man.  The  soft  sun- 
shine, the  gentle  breeze  burdened  with  the 
fragrance  of  innumerable  flowers,  the  gay 


DISCOVERY  31 

winged  insects,  the  water-fowl,  the  singing 
birds,  all  lent  charm  to  the  scene. 

The  buffalo  and  deer,  not  yet  having  been 
taught  to  fear  the  white  man,  came  to  the 
river's  brink  to  satisfy  their  thirst.  Indeed  it 
was  a  goodly  land  to  look  upon.  Marquette 
says,  "We  had  seen  nothing  like  this  river  for 
the  fertility  of  its  land,  its  prairies,  wood,  wild 
cattle,  stag,  deer,  wild  cats,  swan,  ducks, 
parrots,  and  even  beaver;  its  many  lakes  and 
rivers.  That  on  which  we  sailed  (the  lake 
of  the  Illinois)  is  broad,  deep  and  gentle,  for 
sixty-five  leagues."* 

Here  where  the  river  widened  into  the  lake 
they  found  a  village  of  Kaskaskia  Indians. 
This  town  Marquette  records  as  composed  of 
seventy-five  cabins.  This  was  the  first,  the 
original  Kaskaskia.  The  village  was  on  the 
wide  bottom  directly  south  of  what  is  now 
Utica,  in  LaSalle  County.  This  is  on  the 
north  side  of  the  Illinois  River. 

The  Indians  took  kindly  to  Father  Mar- 
quette's  teachings,  and  exacted  a  promise  from 
him  to  return.  This  he  did  the  next  year  and 
established  there  the  Mission  of  the  Immaculate 
Conception  of  the  Virgin  Mary.  This  mission 
was  sustained,  although  Marquette  died  upon 
his  second  return  journey,  and  to-day,  after 


32  DECISIVE  DATES 

even  the  second  Kaskaskia  has  been  destroyed 
and  the  third  been  built  a  little  further  down  the 
island  in  the  Mississippi  River,  this  mission 
still  exists,  the  sole  tie  binding  the  present  to 
the  far-away  past. 

Father  Claude  Allouez  came  to  Kaskaskia  the 
year  following  the  death  of  Marquette,  and 
reports  three  hundred  fifty-one  cabins.  This 
was  perhaps  the  largest  Indian  village  in  the 
country.* 

The  name  for  the  mission  is  explained  by  the 
fact  which  is  recorded  by  Marquette,  that  the 
day  Joliet  arrived  with  orders  from  the  Gover- 
nor to  make  their  journey,  was  the  one  on  the 
Calendar  of  the  Church  to  be  observed  as  "the 
day  of  the  Immaculate  Conception  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin,  whom  I  had  always  invoked 
since  I  had  been  in  this  country,  to  obtain  of 
God  the  grace  to  be  able  to  visit  the  Nations  of 
the  River  Mississippi.  I  therefore  put  our 
voyage  under  the  protection  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin  Immaculate,  promising  that  if  she  did 
us  the  grace  to  discover  the  Great  River,  I 
would  give  it  the  name  of  the  Conception ;  and 
that  I  would  give  that  name  to  the  first  mission 
I  should  establish  among  these  New  Nations,  "f 

He  made  good  his  promise,  both  as  regarded 
the  river  and  the  mission,  but  the  latter  alone 


DISCOVERY  33 

retains  the  name.  The  name  he  gave  the  river 
was  never  recognized.  This  is  but  one  of  the 
attempts  to  change  the  name  of  the  Mississippi 
River  which  failed.  Nine  years  after  Mar- 
quette  attempted  to  give  it  a  new  name, .  La 
Salle  named  it  the  Colbert,  and  a  hundred  years 
later,  the  King  of  France  named  it,  in  his  grant 
to  M.  Crozat,  as  the  river  St.  Louis,  but  the 
Indian  name  remains  and  shall  always  remain. 
The  word  Mississippi  is  a  combination  of  two 
Algonquin  words,  "Missi,"  which  means  great 
and  "sepi"  meaning  a  river.  No  better  name 
could  be  chosen. 

Marquette  promised  the  mission  on  his  first 
trip  to  Kaskaskia,  and  returned  the  following 
year  to  officially  establish  it.  He  sojourned 
but  a  short  time  at  Kaskaskia  because  of  rapidly 
failing  health.  He  made  an  effort  to  reach  the 
St.  Ignatius  Mission  but  had  not  strength  to 
complete  the  journey.  He  died  on  the  banks 
of  a  small  stream  on  the  eastern  side  of  Lake 
Michigan — a  desolate  spot  in  the  wilderness. 

Late  in  August,  1673,  Marquette  and  Joliet 
parted  company,  the  one  to  return  to  Mich- 
ilimakinac  to  await  orders  to  establish  his 
promised  mission  among  the  Illini,  and  the 
other  to  return  directly  to  Quebec. 

(3) 


34  DECISIVE  DATES 

When  Joliet  reached  the  rapids  in  sight  of 
Montreal,  his  boat  was  capsized,  and  he  but 
just  escaped  death.  The  little  Indian  slave 
whom  he  had  fetched  from  the  first  village  of 
the  Illini  where  he  and  Marquette  had  met  such 
a  hearty  welcome,  was  lost,  together  with  the 
maps  and  other  valuable  papers  which  Joliet 
had  carefully  prepared. 

Joliet  never  returned  to  the  Illinois  Country. 
That  his  verbal  report  of  this  country  was  a 
glowing  one,  is  testified  by  Count  Frontenac, 
who,  writing  from  Quebec,  November  14,  1675, 
to  M.  Colbert,  Minister  of  the  Marine  at  Paris, 
says:  "  Sieur  Joliet  has  returned.  He  has 
discovered  some  very  fine  countries,  and  a  navi- 
gation so  easy  through  beautiful  rivers  that  a 
person  can  go  from  Lake  Ontario  in  a  bark  to 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  there  being  only  one  carry- 
ing-place (around  Niagara  Falls),  where  Lake 
Ontario  communicates  with  Lake  Erie."  * 
But  the  hope  that  the  newly  discovered  great 
water-way  through  North  America,  should 
prove  to  be  the  short  route  to  Cathay,  had  to 
be  abandoned. 

The  interest  which  the  report  of  Joliet 
aroused  crystalized  into  the  ambitions  and 
great  plans  of  La  Salle,  who  with  his  faithful 


DISCOVERY  35 

Tonti  came  into  the  country  of  the  Illinois  five 
years  later.  Some  admirers  of  La  Salle  have 
claimed  for  him  the  discovery  of  the  country  of 
the  Illini  previous  to  the  coming  of  Joliet  and 
Marquette.  They  say  that  by  following  the 
course  of  the  Ohio  River  (which  he  discovered) 
to  its  mouth,  he  went  thence  up  the  Mississippi 
to  the  mouth  of  the  Illinois  River,  ascended  this 
for  some  distance,  and  La  Salle,  not  Joliet  and 
Marquette,  was  the  real  discoverer  of  the 
Illinois  Country.  But  this  claim  lacks  proof, 
and  there  is  no  reasonable  doubt  that  the 
natal  day  of  Illinois  was  the  July  day  in  1673, 
when  Joliet  and  Marquette  ascended  the 
Illinois  River. 


NOTES  AND  EXPLANATIONS 

Page  19  *The  French  came  into  the  northern  part  of 
America  when  the  St.  Lawrence  river  was  dis- 
covered by  Jacques  Cartier  in  1534  but  New  France 
was  not  established  until  seventy  four  years  later, 
when  Samuel  de  Champlain  built  Quebec. 

In  the  demands  of  the  fur  trade  and  in  answer  to 
the  spirit  of  adventure  which  was  common,  these 
hardy  Frenchmen  pushed  into  the  western  wilder- 
ness even  as  far  as  the  region  of  the  Great  Lakes. 
Their  route  was  necessarily  through  Canada  because 
of  the  hostility  of  the  Iroquois  to  the  French. 

This  hostility  was  an  inheritance  from  Champlain 
whose  hastily  given  service  to  the  Algonquins  made 
the  Iroquois  the  everlasting  enemy  of  the  French 
people. 

Wherever  the  trader  and  explorer  went,  he  was 
accompanied  by  the  priest  so  that,  by  a  little  after 


36  DECISIVE  DATES 

the  middle   of   the  seventeenth  century,  missions 
were  established  even  so  far  as  Lake  Superior. 

Jean  Nicolet  was  sent  on  an  embassy  to  the 
Winnebagpes,  near  the  head  of  Green  Bay,  to 
secure  their  fur  trade  at  Quebec,  in  about  1634. 

The  first  missionary  penetrating  the  wilderness 
thus  far  was  Father  Menard  who  in  1665  lost  his 
life  in  service  for  the  native  redmen.  It  was  in 
1671,  two  years  before  the  expedition  of  Joliet  and 
Marquette  that  formal  possession  of  "Sainte  Marie 
du  Sault,  as  also  Lakes  Huron  and  Superior,  the 
Manatonlin  Island  and  all  the  countries,  lakes, 
rivers  and  streams  contiguous  or  adjacent  thereto," 
was  taken  in  the  name  of  the  king  of  France  by 
the  deputy  of  Sieur  de  St.  Lusson  Jean  Talon, 
the  intendant  of  New  France. 

So  it  is  that  the  existence  of  the  Mississippi  river 
must  have  been  vaguely  known  to  the  French 
missionaries  and  traders  sometime  before  it  was 
discovered  in  1673. 

Page  20     *This  word  in  the  Illinois  tongue  meant  southern, 
or  people  to  the  south ;  so  termed  because  they  lived 
to  the  south  of  the  Illinois  Country. 
tThe  Mississippi. 
JParis  Documents,  vol.  9,  p.  92. 

Page  21      *Jesuit  Relations,  1669-1670. 

Page  22     fMarquette  Journal. 

Page  23     *Shea's  Discovery  and  Exploration  of  the  Missis- 
sippi.    Quotation  from  Marquette' s  Journal. 
fFather  Marquette's  Original  Journal. 

Page  29  *These  extracts  are  from  the  original  Journal  of 
Father  Marquette  which  was  prepared  for  publica- 
tion by  his  superior,  Father  Dablon,  and  lay  in 
manuscript  at  Quebec,  among  the  archives  of  the 
Jesuits,  until  Dr.  JohnG.  Shea  translated  it  and  pub- 
lished it  in  his  Discovery  and  Explorations  of  the 
Mississippi.  This  account  differs,  although  not  essen- 
tially, from  Marquette's  narrative  sent  the  French 
government  and  printed  at  Paris  by  M.  Thevenot 
in  1681  and  called  Receuil  de  Voyages.  This 
narrative,  copiously  quoted  and  duly  credited  in 
Beckwith's  Historic  Notes  of  the  Northwest. 
These  extracts  are  introduced  here  since  no  better 
words  could  be  chosen  to  relate  the  experiences  than 
those  Father  Marquette  himself  used. 


DISCOVERY  37 

Page  31      *Original  Journal. 

Page  32  *"This  name,  Kaskaskia  is  an  Algonquin  word 
and  has  had  a  varied  spelling.  Marquette  spells  it 
Cachecachequia ;  Allouez  spells  it  Kachkachkia; 
Membri  spells  it  Cascaskias;  Marest  spells  it  Cas- 
casquas,  and  Charlevoix  spells  it  Kaskasquias.  Its 
equivalent  in  English  has,  so  far  as  I  know,  never 
been  determined. — Beckwith. 
fMarquette's  Journal. 

Page  34     *  Paris  Documents,  Vol.  9,  p.  21. 


LASALLE'S  MONUMENT 


INTERIM 

1673-1759 

LA  SALLE'S  EXPEDITION 
FORTS  CREVE  COEUR  AND  ST.  Louis 


COLONIAL  LIFE 


INTERIM 

1673-1799 

LA  SALLE  came  into  the  country  of  the 
Illinois  by  way  of  the  St.  Joseph  and 
Kankakee  rivers,  (that  part  of  the  Illi- 
nois River  above  the  Des  Plaines  was  called  the 
Kankakee)    and   Kankakee   portage.     His   ex- 
ploring party   comprised   thirty    men,  includ- 
ing the  faithful  Tonti  and  two  priests,  Father 
Membre  and  Father  Hennepin. 

Reaching  the  Indian  village  of  Kaskaskia 
where  Marquette  had  established  his  mission 
four  years  before  this  time,  they  found  it  de- 
serted. The  Indians  were  away  on  their  annual 
hunt.  Taking  of  the  stores  there  found,  and 
leaving  value  in  presents,  La  Salle  proceeded  a 
little  further  down  the  river  where  he  began  the 
building  of  what  proved  to  be  but  a  temporary 
station  hardly  deserving  the  name  sometimes 
given  it  of  the  first  fort  in  the  Illinois  Country. 
To  this  he  gave  the  name  of  Creve  Coeur.  Its 
site,  after  much  dispute,  has  been  marked  as 
near  what  is  now  Wesley  City.  La  Salle  then 
returned  to  Quebec  for  help,  leaving  Tonti  in 
charge  of  affairs  in  the  country  of  the  Illini. 

41 


42  DECISIVE    DATES 

While  gone,  La  Salle's  men  mutinied,  destroyed 
his  partially  built  ship,  and  abandoned  and 
burned  Fort  Creve  Coeur. 

La  Salle  returned  to  find  even  Tonti  gone. 
Later  he  found  him  at  Michilimakinac,  and 
together  they  descended  the  Mississippi  River 
to  its  mouth,  where,  in  the  name  of  his  king 
and  for  his  church,  La  Salle  took  possession  of 
the  river  and  its  valley. 

He  subsequently  fortified  the  Rock  in  the 
Illinois  River,  just  a  little  above  the  Indian  vil- 
lage of  Kaskaskia,  to  which  he  gave  the  name 
of  Fort  St.  Louis  and  which  was  the  first  per- 
manent settlement  in  the  country  of  the  Illini. 
Some  confusion  has  arisen  concerning  the  loca- 
tion of  Fort  St.  Louis.  This  comes  about  in 
part  because  it  is  known  to  have  been  near 
Kaskaskia,  and  the  first  Kaskaskia  which  was 
near  Fort  St.  Louis  was  removed  some  twenty 
years  later,  to  near  the  mouth  of  the  Kaskaskia 
(Okaw)  River,  not  far  from  which  the  Spanish 
settlement  (which  grew  into  the  present  city) 
of  St.  Louis  was  located.  To  add  to  this  con- 
fusion, Fort  St.  Louis  is  not  now  known  by  that 
name,  but  is  called  Starved  Rock. 

Custom  has  given  this  rock  in  the  river  a  name 
which  perpetuates  the  passing  of  the  Indian 


LA  SALLE'S  EXPEDITION  43 

instead  of  having  it  known  by  the  name  of  Fort 
St.  Louis,  which  would  have  emphasized  the 
coming  of  the  white  man. 

A  seventeenth  century  French  settlement 
attached  itself  about  the  fort  on  the  Illinois 
River,  and  had  it  not  been  for  the  untimely 
death  of  La  Salle,  the  fate  of  New  France  in  the 
Illinois  Country,  near  a  hundred  years  later, 
would  have  been  different. 

La  Salle  left  Fort  St.  Louis  in  charge  of  Tonti, 
and  returned  to  France,  thence  to  bring  a  colony 
to  near  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  River. 
The  ships  carrying  this  colony  somehow  missed 
the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  and  the  unfortu- 
nate Frenchmen  landed  on  the  coast  of  what 
now  is  Texas,  where  they  wandered,  enduring 
inexpressible  hardships. 

Attempting  to  return  to  Fort  St.  Louis  and 
secure  aid  from  Tonti,  La  Salle  was  foully 
murdered  by  his  own  men  who,  because  of  their 
hardships,  had  grown  dissatisfied.  Describing 
the  tragedy,  Father  Douay,  who  was  one  of  the 
party,  closes  with  an  eulogy  of  La  Salle  in  these 
words:  "Thus  died  our  commander;  constant 
in  adversity,  intrepid,  generous,  engaging,  dex- 
terous, skillful,  capable  of  everything.  He  who 
for  twenty  years  had  softened  the  fierce  temper 
of  countless  savage  tribes  was  massacred  by  the 


44  DECISIVE  DATES 

hands  of  his  own  domestics  whom  he  had 
loaded  with  caresses." 

With  all  his  aspirations,  spite  the  honors  oft- 
times  heaped  upon  him  and  the  deserved  praise 
he  has  received,  the  life  of  La  Salle  is  a  tragedy, 
a  "tale  of  disappointment,  suffering,  failure, 
treachery,  and  ignoble  death." 

Repeated  raids  of  the  Iroquois  into  the  Illini 
Country  greatly  reduced  their  numbers; 
thriving  settlements  along  the  lower  Missis- 
sippi drew  interest  down  the  river;  the  line 
of  travel  changed  to  the  Mississippi  route, 
making  the  early  abandonment  of  Fort  St. 
Louis  a  natural  consequence. 

These  conditions  working  together  induced 
the  removal  of  the  Kaskaskia  tribe  and  others 
of  the  Illini  to  near  the  mouth  of  the  Kaskas- 
kia River,  and  the  transfer  of  the  settlement  in 
the  Illinois  Country  from  what  is  now  La  Salle 
County  to  that  part  of  the  state  on  the  Missis- 
sippi River  near  what  was  later  known  as  the 
American  Bottoms,  and  is  now  known  as  Ran- 
dolph and  St.  Clair  counties. 

There,  early  in  the  eighteenth  century,  Fort 
Chartres  was  built  and  Cahokia,  Prairie  du 
Rocher,  and  other  French  towns  were  located. 
There  the  new  Kaskaskia,  the  well-known  Kas- 


COLONIAL  LIFE  45 

kaskia,  the  town  which  for  a  hundred  and  thirty 
years  reflected  the  life  of  the  people  of  Illinois, 
was  built.  So  interwoven  is  it  into  every  event 
of  Illinois  history  to  nearly  the  middle  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  that  the  story  of  Kaskas- 
kia*  is  the  story  of  Illinois. 

During  the  first  half  of  the  eighteenth  century 
the  colonies  in  the  Illinois  Country  were  the 
centre  of  New  France  in  America.  These  have 
well  been  called  the  "halcyon  days  for  New 
France  in  the  Illinois  Country."  With  the 
government  at  Quebec  or  at  New  Orleans,  the 
power  of  New  France  in  the  Illini  Country  could 
well  afford  to  ignore  the  claim  of  both  England 
and  Spain  to  the  same  territory. 

"Nature  offered  her  gifts  with  bounteous 
hand."  * 

"  The  history  of  a  single  voyageur  and  hunter 
will  be  enough  to  make  a  type  of  old  Kaskaskia. 
Take  Jules  for  the  type.  He  may  have  come  to 
Mobile  as  a  soldier  under  Iberville,  and  con- 
cluded to  remain  after  his  term  of  enlistment 
had  expired ;  he  may  have  accompanied  Phillippe 
Renault.  It  is  more  likely  that  Jules  was  a 
Canadian  born  in  the  woods  and  accustomed  to 
the  birch  canoe  since  infancy.  The  birch  canoe 
was  the  great  carrier  of  the  wilderness,  the 


46  DECISIVE  DATES 

Frenchman's  steamboat.  *  *  *  Jules  was 
light-hearted  and  gay.  He  was  simple  and 
temperate.  He  was  placid  as  he  smoked  in  his 
red  cap  by  some  cottage  door;  then  he  would 
be  excited,  raving,  weeping,  threating  in  the 
crowd.  The  merriest  of  mortals,  he  was  one  of 
the  hardiest  and  also  the  handiest.  He  could 
swim  like  an  otter,  run  like  a  deer,  paddle  all 
day  without  resting;  and  while  he  paddled  he 
sang  or  told  stories,  and  laughter  was  his  dear 
companion.  He  could  imitate  the  Indian  yell, 
mimic  the  hissing  rattlesnake,  could  skin  a  deer, 
and  scrape  a  fiddle. 

Here  at  Kaskaskia  where  nature  had  been 
bountiful,  he  could  raise  corn  for  sagamiti  and 
hominy.  Here  the  maple  yielded  him  sugar. 
Here  was  cotton  for  garments  and  wheat  for 
flour.  Around  him  were  fertile  grassy  prairies 
for  cattle  to  grow  fat  upon.  Wild  grapes, 
plums,  persimmons,  and  cherries  in  abundance 
for  his  use,  and  pecans,  acorns,  hickory  nuts, 
hazel  and  walnuts  for  his  swine.  Here  were 
buffalo,  elk  and  deer  for  hides  and  food.  The 
rivers  were  full  of  fish,  while  the  forest  abounded 
in  fur-bearing  animals  whose  skins  he  might 
acquire  and  sell. 

Jules  decided  to  settle  here  and  marry — a 
French  woman,  if  possible,  and  if  not,  an  Indian 


COLONIAL  LIFE  47 

maid.  At  Kaskaskia  he  could  find  these,  with 
music  and  dancing  and  a  glass  of  domestic  wine 
to  complete  his  enjoyment.  He  could  live  in 
elegant  ease  on  what  he  could  farm  and  shoot. 
He  could  cut  his  own  lumber,  make  his  own 
mortar,  get  a  lot  near  others  of  his  kind  and 
procure  a  deed  for  his  cornfield,  with  a  right  of 
common  for  wood  and  pasture. 

Here  he  had  no  taxes.  Here  he  had  a  mild 
paternal  government.  He  could  make  one 
voyage  each  year,  of  three  or  four  months  dur- 
ation. Here  he  was  lazy  when  the  mood 
suited,  and  happy  always;  with  Priest  Father 
to  give  him  consolation  on  the  doorstep  of 
death  and  bury  him  with  the  rites  of  the 
church."*  The  strenuous  life  of  the  twentieth 
century  American  citizen  was  unknown. 

The  freedom  of  the  pioneer  was  enjoyed  with 
no  thought  of  a  citizen's  responsibility.  The 
problem  of  securing  food,  shelter,  and  clothing 
was  easily  solved,  for  each  man's  garden  was  a 
part  of  the  common,  while  his  cow  was  fed 
without  cost  to  him  from  the  common  pasture. 
All  of  this  was  supplemented  with  the  berries, 
nuts,  and  other  wild  fruit  which  was  his  for  the 
taking. 

The  houses  were  easy  to  construct,  and  the 
dress  consisted  of  homespun,  or  tanned  skins, 


48  DECISIVE  DATES 

the  product  of  the  flax,  the  cotton  plant,  the 
flock,  and  the  chase.  No  taxes  to  pay,  and  the 
desire  and  opportunity  for  unlimited  fun — what 
more  could  one  ask?  Such  was  the  life  of  the 
more  lowly  Kaskaskian. 

It  must  not,  however,  be  assumed  that  high 
breeding,  fashion  and  wealth  were  altogether 
lacking.  The  best  blood  of  old  France  was 
found  in  these  towns  in  the  Illinois  Country. 
These  well-born  Kaskaskians  surrounded  them- 
selves with  what  elegancies  they  could  bring  from 
France  or  Canada.  They  had  good  homes  and 
life  was  made  easy  for  them  by  their  large 
number  of  slaves.  In  taste -and  manners  so 
refined  were  some  of  them,  that  a  social  function 
at  the  home  of  a  Bauvais,  or  a  Charleville,  or  a 
Viviat,  a  LaChauces  or  a  Sancier,  whether  in 
Kaskaskia  or  Cahokio,  would  have  done  credit 
to  the  salons  of  Paris  itself. 

Such  were  the  conditions  of  life  in  the  French 
colonies  in  the  Illinois  Country  up  to  the  time 
of  the  struggle  called  the  Seven  Years,  or  the 
French  and  Indian  War,  which  conflict  deter- 
mined the  supremacy  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  in  the 
New  World. 


INTERIM  49 


NOTES  AND  EXPLANATIONS 

Page  45  *Kaskaskia  remained  the  capital  of  the  Illinois 
county  of  Virginia,  until  the  territory  was  organized 
under  the  government  of  the  United  States  as  the 
Northwest  territory  with  its  capital  at  Mariette, 
Ohio.  Kaskaskia  remained  an  important  town 
during  the  years  Illinois  was  a  part  of  the  North- 
west territory,  and  later  as  a  part  of  the  Indiana 
territory.  When  the  division  was  made  and  the 
Illinois  territory  created,  Kaskaskia  again  be- 
came its  capital.  The  young  commonwealth  had 
Kaskaskia  as  its  capital  until  it  was  moved  up  the 
river  to  Vandalia.  Kaskaskia  was  built  so  near  the 
river  that  in  time,  it  suffered  from  the  fact.  But  it 
was  not  until  in  the  eighties  that  the  Mississippi 
washing  its  way  into  the  Kaskaskia  channel  cut 
through  the  town  and  made  it  an  island  in  the 
great  river.  Those  living  in  Kaskaskia  sought 
safer  homes,  while  the  state  removed  the  cemetery 
to  the  opposite  bluffs  at  Fort  Gage.  A  noble  shaft 
has  been  erected  to  the  memory  of  those  buried  in 
the  new  cemetery  which  over-looks  all  that  is  left 
of  the  once  proud  and  important  Kaskaskia,  the 
spot  so  filled  with  romance  that  is  dear  to  the 
hearts  of  all  those  who  know  its  story. 

Page  45  **Alvord  in  Virginia  series  Vol.  I,  Col.  111.  Hist. 
Lib.  gives  clear  idea  of  life  in  French  towns  in  111. 
during  this  period.  See  p.  XIV-XXV.  Also 
Stuart  in  Old  Kaskaskia  Days  and  Ways.  Pub.  No. 
10,  111.  Hist.  Library. 

Page  47  *Stuart  in  Old  Kaskaskia  Days  and  Ways.  Pub. 
10,  111.  Hist.  Library,  p.  132. 


DATE  II.  —  1759 
THE  SILVER  COVENANT  CHAIN 


UNIVERSITY  OF 
ILLINOIS  LIBRARY 


DATE  II.  —  1759 

[To  appreciate  the  significance  of  this  date  it  is 
necessary  to  understand  conditions  in  Europe  and  this 
country  in  the  early  part  of  the  seventeenth  century.] 

THE  four,  at  that  time,  great  powers  of 
Europe,  were  colonizing  America  more 
than  a  half  century  before  the  Illinois 
Country  was  known. 

New  England  was  getting  a  foothold  on  the 
eastern  coast;  New  France  was  established  in 
Quebec  and  Montreal,  and  other  points  along 
the  St.  Lawrence  River,  reaching  into  the  wilder- 
ness of  what  is  now  Canada  and  along  the 
northern  shores  of  the  Great  Lakes ;  New  Neth- 
erlands was  planted  along  the  Hudson  River ; 
and  New  Spain  was  flourishing  in  South 
America,  Mexico,  New  Mexico,  and  toward  the 
Pacific  Coast. 

From  the  time  of  the  discovery  of  America, 
Spain  had  been  more  active  in  explorations  than 
had  any  other  nation  of  the  Old  World.  During 
the  sixteenth  century  she  discovered,  conquered, 
and,  in  a  way,  colonized  a  large  portion  of  inland 
America ;  at  least,  she  laid  claim  to  the  domain 
from  Colorado  to  Buenos  Ay  res,  extending  from 
sea  to  sea. 

53 


54  DECISIVE  DATES 

Spain  made  permanent  settlements  in  what 
is  now  known  as  Florida  and  New  Mexico, 
years  before  New  England,  New  Netherlands, 
and  New  France  were  established.  But  Spain's 
object  in  exploring  America,  itself  defeated 
her  permanent  possession  of  the  land.  She 
came  to  America  for  wealth,  not  to  establish 
homes.  In  her  insatiate  search  for  gold,  she 
pushed  to  the  north  and  northwest,  leaving  fer- 
tile plains  for  rocky  mountains  which  might 
hold  the  coveted  treasure. 

The  Spanish  domains  at  the  beginning  of  the 
seventeenth  century  comprised  not  only  Spain 
proper,  but  a  large  part  of  the  Netherlands  ad- 
joining Holland  and  portions  of  Italy  in  Europe, 
together  with  that  part  of  America  claimed  by 
rights  of  discovery.  The  West  Indies,  together 
with  immense  provinces  in  South  America, 
were  hers  by  right  of  conquest  and  occupancy, 
as  well  as  discovery.  So  too  were  Florida 
and  Mexico  and  New  Mexico ;  Spain  was  a  power 
to  be  feared.  But  her  claim  to  North  America 
as  far  as  forty  degrees  north  latitude  was  not 
considered  valid  by  all  the  European  powers. 
Indeed,  Great  Britain  completely  ignored  any 
right  of  Spain  above  thirty-four  degrees  north 
latitude,  and  so  made  her  grants  of  land. 


THE  SILVER  COVENANT  CHAIN  55 

By  reason  of  the  discovery,  early  in  the 
seventeenth  century,  of  the  Hudson  River  by 
Henry  Hudson,  while  in  command  of  a  Dutch 
vessel  seeking  the  much-desired  new  quick 
route  to  the  Orient,  the  valley  drained  by  this 
river  became  the  property  of  Holland.  It  was 
speedily  occupied  by  the  thrifty  people  of  that 
country. 

The  influence  of  the  Holland  Dutch  in  the 
making  of  American  institutions  must  not  be 
estimated  by  the  limited  extent  of  their  posses- 
sions and  duration  of  time  of  ownership  com- 
pared with  that  of  England,  France,  and  Spain. 
Their  political  authority  was  quickly  absorbed 
by  the  power  of  Great  Britain,  and  New  Nether- 
lands ceased  to  exist,  yet  the  Dutch  from  Holland 
have  determined  much  of  American  history. 
The  history  of  Illinois  is  incomplete  without 
the  important  part  Holland  played  at  one  stage 
of  its  development.  By  right  of  discoveries  of 
Cabot,  England  held  a  just  claim  to  North 
America.  Upon  the  strength  of  this  claim,  at 
the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century  Great 
Britain  made  grants  of  land  in  the  New  World 
to  two  companies.  These  grants  extended  from 
thirty-four  degrees  to  forty-eight  degrees  north 
latitude,  inclusive.  The  east  and  west  limits 
were  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  oceans. 


56  DECISIVE  DATES 

It  will  be  remembered  that  Spain  claimed  all 
land  as  far  as  forty  degrees  north  latitude,  be- 
cause of  the  discovery  of  Columbus  and  the 
decree  of  the  Pope.  So  it  was  the  grant  made 
the  London  Company  included  six  degrees 
already  claimed  by  the  other  nation.  This 
claim  of  Spain  may  have  directed  explorers 
from  both  England  and  France  to  the  New 
World  to  the  north  of  forty  degrees  north  lati- 
tude, yet  it  seems  that  England  forgot  it  when 
asserting  her  claim  to  the  territory. 

If  the  claim  of  Spain  directed  the  French  ex- 
plorers whose  efforts  resulted  in  the  discovery 
of  the  St.  Lawrence  River  to  the  north  of  forty 
degrees  north  latitude,  the  valuable  fisheries 
and  fur  trade  held  their  interest  and  deter- 
mined the  location  of  New  France  in  America. 
Quebec,  Montreal,  and  other  smaller  colonies  on 
the  St.  Lawrence  made  good  trading  posts 
from  which  the  earnest  and  loyal  Frenchman 
pushed  his  way  into  the  wilderness,  carrying 
the  interests  of  his  church  and  his  king. 

The  right  of  Spain  in  the  New  World  as  far  as 
forty  degrees  north  latitude,  was  recognized  in 
the  grant  of  land  made  by  the  king  of  France  in 
1603  to  De  Chartres  and  afterwards  transferred 
to  De  Monts.  This  grant  extended  across  the 
continent,  including  the  territory  between  forty 


THE  SILVER  COVENANT  CHAIN  57 

and  forty-six  degrees  north  latitude.  The  grant 
of  land  made  the  London  Company  by  Great 
Britain  early  in  the  seventeenth  century,  it  is 
plain,  ignored  the  claim  of  Spain  to  the  terri- 
tory included  between  thirty-four  and  forty 
degrees  north  latitude  since  its  southern  limit 
was  thirty-four  degrees  north  latitude.  At 
the  same  time  the  grant  made  the  Plymouth 
Company  about  the  same  date,  by  Great 
Britain  ignored  the  grant  of  De  Monts, 
between  forty  and  forty-six  degrees  north 
latitude,  since  forty-eight  degrees  was 
the  northern  limit  named  in  this  patent.  In 
this  way  Great  Britian,  in  the  early  seven- 
teenth century,  disputed  claim  to  the  territory 
between  thirty-four  and  forty-eight  north  lati- 
tude, while  the  strip  down  the  Hudson  belonged 
to  the  Dutch,  undisputed  save  by  the  native 
savage. 

Later  in  the  century,  La  Salle's  bold  explora- 
tion of  the  Mississippi  River  to  its  mouth,  and 
formal  taking  possession  of  its  valley  in  the 
name  of  the  king  of  France,  further  compli- 
cated and  confused  the  rights  of  the  European 
powers. 

Spain  claimed  the  Mississippi  valley  because 
De  Soto,  a  Spaniard  had  long  before  this  dis- 
covered the  lower  Mississippi  River.  This  had 


58  DECISIVE  DATES 

less  effect  than  would  seem  worthy  the  fact 
since  Spain  had  failed  to  further  explore  and 
colonize  the  region. 

So  it  was  that  the  middle  of  the  seven- 
teenth century  found  the  eastern  coast  of 
America  a  New  England ;  along  the  St. 
Lawrence  River,  the  Great  Lakes,  and  the 
Mississippi  River  to  the  Gulf,  a  New  France; 
the  West  Indies,  South  America,  Florida, 
Mexico,  New  Mexico,  and  toward  the  western 
coast,  a  New  Spain;  and  along  the  banks  of 
the  Hudson  River,  a  New  Netherlands. 

So  much  for  the  white  man  in  America  at  the 
middle  of  the  seventeenth  century.  But  the 
real  owners  of  the  soil  were  the  American 
Indians.  What  of  them?  They  were  the  people 
the  white  men  found,  they  were  the  original  in- 
habitants. 

The  transfer  of  ownership  was  effected  in 
different  ways.  The  English  generally  com- 
pelled the  relinquishment  of  the  Indians'  claims, 
by  force.  The  French  secured  it  by  sharing 
their  life  and  agreeing  upon  equal  division. 
The  Dutch  gained  their  end  by  purchase,  giving 
the  equivalent  value.  The  Spanish  resorted 
to  force  or  trade,  as  their  whim  directed. 

There  were  two  great  families  of  the  Indian 
race  located  east  of  the  Mississippi  River,  known 


THE  SILVER  COVENANT  CHAIN  59 

as  the  Algonquins  and  the  Iroquois.  The 
Creeks  and  Seminoles  were  further  to  the  South- 
east, and  were  not  known  in  the  country  of  the 
Illinois. 

The  early  explorers  found  the  Algonquins  the 
most  numerous,  but  later  the  Iroquois,  domi- 
nated them.  The  Iroquois  were  at  home  in 
central  New  York.  They  were,  however,  con- 
stantly going  into  the  lands  of  other  tribes  and 
making  war  upon  them.  The  results  of  these 
raids  were  usually  the  subjugation  of  the  at- 
tacked tribes,  to  the  end  that  they  paid  tribute 
to  the  Iroquois.  Each  year  an  Iroquois  chief 
would  go  among  the  tribes  thus  subjugated,  and 
collect  the  tribute.  The  insolence,  upon  the 
part  of  the  collector  on  such  an  occasion, 
beggars  description. 

Champlain  found  the  Algonquins  when  he 
first  came  to  the  St.  Lawrence  River.  They 
were  friendly  to  the  white  man.  When  they 
asked  Champlain's  help  in  a  war  which  was  as 
usual,  going  on  between  them  and  the  Iroquois, 
Champlain  gave  them  aid.  He  taught  them 
the  use  of  the  white  man's  weapons,  and  him- 
self led  the  victorious  Algonquins  in  a  decisive 
battle  on  the  lake  now  bearing  his  name.  The 
result  was  the  undying  hatred  of  the  Iroquois 


60  DECISIVE  DATES 

not  alone  for  Champlain  but  for  every  French- 
man as  well. 

This  hatred  barred  the  way  of  the  French 
from  going  westward  across  the  Iroquois 
country  and  by  way  of  the  Great  Lakes,  and  at 
the  same  time  protected  the  Dutch  and  English 
colonies  from  the  French.  The  same  reason 
that  made  it  impossible  for  the  French  on  the 
St.  Lawrence  to  overcome  the  colonies  on  the 
coast,  sent  them  west  by  way  of  the  Ottawa 
River  and  Georgian  Bay.  On  the  other  hand, 
because  of  this  impulsive  act  of  Champlain,  the 
French  gained  the  never-ceasing  friendship  of 
the  Algonquins  and  made  it  possible  for  Joliet 
and  La  Salle  and  other  Frenchmen  to  abide  in 
the  country  of  the  Illinois. 

The  Iroquois  had  not  always  been  the  domi- 
nating tribe  among  the  American  Indians.  The 
Adirondacks  were  the  original  family  from 
which  the  various  tribes  of  the  Algonquins 
sprang.  The  word  in  the  Iroquois  tongue  for 
Algonquins  is  Adirondacks.  Long  before  the 
arrival  of  the  Europeans  in  America,  the  Iro- 
quois were  under  subjection  to  the  Adirondacks, 
so  it  is  said. 

The  principal  villages  of  the  Iroquois  were  on 
the  north  shore  of  Lake  Ontario,  where  they 
made  the  planting  of  corn  their  business.  The 


THE  SILVER  COVENANT  CHAIN  61 

Adirondacks  despised  them  for  doing  a  work  fit 
only  for  women.  At  one  time,  however,  game 
being  very  scarce,  the  Adirondacks  induced 
some  of  the  young  men  of  the  Iroquois  to  help 
them  hunt.  These  young  men  soon  became 
quite  expert  in  hunting,  so  much  so  indeed, 
that  the  Adirondacks  grew  jealous,  and  one 
night  murdered  all  the  Iroquois  young  men  they 
had  with  them. 

To  the  surprise  of  the  Adirondacks,  the  Iro- 
quois determined  upon  revenge.  They  had 
hitherto  looked  upon  the  Iroquois  as  women. 
So  it  was  the  Adirondacks  forced  the  Iroquois  to 
leave  their  country  and  fly  to  the  south  shore  of 
the  lake.  There  they  made  war  upon  the 
"Satanas"  (Shawnees),*  a  tribe  of  the  Adiron- 
dacks. The  Iroquois  subdued  the  "Satanas," 
and  drove  them  from  their  country,  f  After 
this,  the  Iroquois  grew  more  and  more  a  war- 
like people.  Notwithstanding  their  war-like 
impulses,  the  Iroquois  lived  more  the  life  of  the 
white  man  in  cultivating  the  soil  and  establish- 
ing permanent  homes  than  did  the  other 
indians. 

The  Algonquins,  unlike  the  tribes  further  to 
the  south,  had  no  special  religion.  They  had  a 
general  belief  in  "  good  and  bad  spirits,"  and  the 
necessity  of  appeasing  the  latter  by  all  sorts  of 


62  DECISIVE  DATES 

gifts  and  various  offerings.  Generally  speak- 
ing, they  took  kindly  to  the  teachings  of  the 
French  priests  and  would,  in  most  cases,  be 
guided  by  them. 

The  Indians  found  in  the  Illinois  Country  by 
Joliet  and  Marquette,  were  all  tribes  of  the 
Algonquins.  The  principal  confederacy  was 
that  of  the  Illini,  which  consisted  of  five  tribes : 
the  Peorias,  the  Kaskaskias,  the  Cahokias, 
Tamarois,  and  the  Michiganians.  The  names 
of  these  tribes  have  been  given  to  towns  and 
rivers  in  the  state,  so  that  their  habitat  is  easily 
determined,  while  the  name  of  the  confederacy 
has  been  impressed  upon  the  principal  river 
and  the  state  itself. 

The  Indians  of  the  confederacy  of  the  Illini, 
who  were  the  first  known  occupants  of  the 
territory  now  known  as  the  state  of  Illinois,  were 
not  a  war-like  people.  They  were  not  even  a 
courageous  people.  They  are  recorded  as  being 
lazy  and  vicious.  They  were  "mild  and  docile 
enough,  but  they  were  cowardly,  treacherous, 
fickle,  deceitful,  thievish,  brutal,  destitute  of 
faith  or  honor,  addicted  to  gluttony,  and  not  a 
whit  less  haughty  or  self  complacent  because  of 
the  fact  that  the  Canada  tribes  despised  them 
on  account  of  their  vices."  J 


THE  SILVER  COVENANT  CHAIN  63 

"Their  villages,"  says  Father  Hennepin,* 
"  are  open,  not  enclosed  with  palisades,  because 
they  have  no  courage  to  defend  them;  they 
would  flee  as  they  heard  their  enemies  approach- 
ing. ' '  Up  to  the  time  of  the  coming  of  the  white 
man,  their  weapons  were  the  bow  and  arrow  and 
the  club.  Their  arrows  were  pointed  with 
stone,  and  their  tomahawks  were  made  of  stag 
horns  cut  in  the  shape  of  a  cutlass  and  termi- 
nating in  a  large  ball.  In  the  use  of  the  bow  and 
arrow,  all  writers  agree  that  the  Illini  excelled 
all  neighboring  tribes.  For  protection  against 
the  missiles  of  an  enemy,  they  used  bucklers 
composed  of  buffalo  hides  stretched  over  a 
wooden  frame. 

In  form  the  Illini  were  tall  and  lithe. 
They  were  swift  runners.  The  women, 
beside  cultivating  the  soil,  did  all  the 
household  drudgery,  carried  the  game  and  made 
the  clothes.  The  garments  were  made  from 
buffalo-hides  and  from  the  soft  wool  that  grew 
upon  these  animals.  Both  the  wool  and  hides 
were  dyed  with  brilliant  colors,  black,  yellow 
or  vermilion.  In  this  kind  of  work,  the  Illini  wo- 
men were  greatly  in  advance  of  the  women  of 
other  tribes.  Articles  of  dress  were  sewed 
together  with  thread  made  from  the  nerves  and 
tendons  of  deer,  prepared  by  exposure  to  the 


64  DECISIVE  DATES 

sun  twice  in  every  twenty-four  hours.  After 
this  the  nerve  and  tendons  were  beaten  so  that 
their  fibres  would  separate  into  a  fine  white 
thread. 

The  garment  worn  by  the  women  was  some- 
thing like  a  loose  wrapper.  Beneath  the  wrap- 
per were  petticoats,  for  warmth  in  winter. 
They  wore  a  head-dress  for  ornament,  rather 
than  use.  Their  feet  were  covered  with  mocca- 
sins, and  leggins  decorated  with  quills  of  the 
porcupine  stained  in  colors  of  brilliant  con- 
trasts. Ornaments  fashioned  from  clam-shells 
and  other  hard  substances,  were  worn  about  their 
neck,  wrists,  and  ankles. 

Their  food  consisted  of  the  scanty  products 
of  their  fields,  and  principally  of  game  and  fish, 
of  which  there  was  in  their  country  a  great 
abundance.  Father  Allouez,  who  followed 
Father  Marquette  to  the  mission  at  Kaskaskia, 
stated  there  were  fourteen  varieties  of  herbs,  and 
forty-two  varieties  of  fruits  in  that  locality 
which  they  used  for  food.  Their  plates  and 
other  dishes  were  made  of  wood,  and  their 
spoons  constructed  out  of  buffalo  bones.  The 
dishes  for  boiling  food  were  earthen,  sometimes 
glazed.* 

Spite  of  all  records  of  limited  good  qualities 
on  the  part  of  the  Illini  Indian,  it  must  not  be 


THE  SILVER  COVENANT  CHAIN  65 

forgotten  that  their  loyalty  to  the  French  was 
enduring.  The  friendship  between  the  two 
races  never  was  lessened,  and  when  in  the 
course  of  events,  the  French  were  no  longer  in 
authority,  the  children  of  the  Illini  Indian  were 
taught  to  love  the  Gaul.  It  was  not  the  Illini, 
but  the  "tribes  as  far  west  as  the  Illinois  River" 
(the  Illini  had  before  this  been  removed  beyond 
and  below  this  point),  that  deserted  the  French 
in  the  decisive  time  of  the  Seven  Years'  War,  and 
it  was  the  confidence  and  love  the  Illini  had  for 
the  French  represented  by  Father  Gibault,  which 
insured  George  Rogers  Clark's  success  in  his 
conquest  of  the  Northwest. 

The  Illini  became  less  and  less  hardy  and 
fewer  in  numbers  owing  to  their  habits  of  idle- 
ness and  vice  and  their  inherited  tendencies  to 
disease  as  well  as  the  raids  made  on  them  by 
their  enemies  during  the  hundred  years  subse- 
quent to  the  coming  of  the  white  man  to  the 
Illinois  Country. 

When  Pontiac  met  his  death  at  the  hands  of 
one  of  the  tribe,  the  hatred  felt  toward  all  of 
them  by  other  tribes  was  increased. 

A  strong  confederacy  of  tribes  was  formed 
about  this  time  (1760)  called  the  Penotomy. 

There  were  several  decisive  battles  fought  by 
the  Penotomies  and  the  Illini.  It  is  said  one  was 

(5) 


66  DECISIVE  DATES 

at  Blue  Island,  another  on  the  Des  Plaines  near 
where  the  city  of  Joliet  now  stands,  and  another 
on  the  site  of  Morris  in  Grundy  County.  In  all 
of  these,  the  Illini  suffered  defeat.  Tradition 
says  they  were  driven  ahead  of  their  relentless 
foes  to  the  Rock  in  the  Illinois  River  which  had 
eighty  years  before  this  been  occupied  as  Fort 
St.  Louis.  This  refuge  proved  a  trap  for  the 
Illini  since  it  shut  them  in  by  their  enemy,  and 
their  fate  was  absolute  starvation.  This  gave 
the  Rock  its  present  name.  A  few  escaped  and 
made  their  way  to  St.  Louis  on  the  Mississippi. 
In  1830,  the  Illini  confederacy  had  lost  its  iden- 
tity being  known  only  as  Peoria  and  Kaskaskia 
tribes.  Twenty  years  later  there  were  but  one 
hundred  sixty-five  in  it  at  Quapau,  I.  T.  Du- 
Cogne,  their  last  chief,  boasted  that  his  tribe 
had  never  shed  the  blood  of  a  white  man. 

The  constant  raids  of  the  Iroquois  upon  the 
Indians  of  the  Illinois  Country  in  the  seventeenth 
century,  is  no  doubt  explained  by  M.  Du 
Chesneau,  in  a  memoir  on  the  western  Indians, 
dated  at  Quebec,  September  13,  1681,f  in 
which  he  says:  "Their  (the  Iroquois)  true 
motive  was  to  gratify  the  English  at  Manette 
(New  York)  and  Orange  (Albany),  who  by 
means  of  presents,  engaged  the  Iroquois  in 
these  expeditions,  the  object  of  which  was  to 


THE  SILVER  COVENANT  CHAIN  67 

force  the  Illinois  Indians  to  bring  their  beaver  to 
them,  so  that  they  may  go  and  trade  it  afterwards 
to  the  English;  also  to  intimidate  the  other 
Indians  and  constrain  them  to  do  the  same 
thing." 

That  the  efforts  of  the  Iroquois  to  subdue  the 
western  Indians  were  not  without  the  support 
of  the  English  for  their  advantage  in  the  ex- 
tension of  the  fur  trade,  note  that  reply  of  the 
Governor  of  New  York  to  an  appeal  made  from 
the  Senecas,  one  of  the  tribes  of  the  Iroquois, 
for  aid  some  twenty  years  later,  in  a  war  waged 
by  the  Miamis  against  them.  "  I  should  think 
it  prudence  and  good  policy  in  you  to  try  all 
possible  means  to  fix  a  trade  and  correspond- 
ence with  all  those  nations  by  which  means  you 
would  reconcile  them  to  yourselves,  and  with 
my  assistance,  I  am  in  hopes  that  in  a  short  time 
they  might  be  united  with  us  in  the  covenant 
chain,  and  then  you  might  without  hazard,  go 
into  their  country,  which  I  understand  is  much 
the  best  for  beaver.  /  should  think  myself 
obliged  to  reward  you  for  such  a  piece  of  service, 
and  will  always  use  my  best  efforts  to  preserve 
you  from  all  your  enemies."  * 

This  communication  was  made  the  year 
preceding  that  in  wrhich  the  Sachems  of  the 
Iroquois  conveyed  to  William  III,  king  of  Great 


68  DECISIVE  DATES 

Britain,  their  beaver  hunting-grounds  north- 
west and  west  of  Albany,  including  a  broad  strip 
on  the  south  side  of  Lake  Erie,  all  of  the  present 
states  of  Michigan,  Ohio,  and  Indiana,  and 
Illinois  "as  far  as  the  Illinois." 

The  country  of  the  Illini  at  the  time  of  its  dis- 
covery by  Marquette  and  Joliet,  extended  as 
far  east  as  the  "  ridge  that  divides  the  waters 
flowing  into  the  Illinois  from  the  streams  that 
drain  into  the  Wabash  above  the  head-waters  of 
Saline  Creek,"  but  the  Iroquois  had  driven  them 
west  of  the  Illinois  River,  and  the  year  before  the 
date  of  this  cessation,  they  had  moved  their 
principal  village  to  the  south  and  west  of  the 
river.  The  year  following  this  cessation, 
Fort  St.  Louis  was  abandoned,  and  protection 
to  the  Illini  tribes  east  of  the  Illinois  River 
ceased. 

This  purchase  of  lands  of  the  Northwest  by 
the  English  from  the  Iroquois,  was  little  bene- 
fit further  than  to  give  the  "color  of  title" 
Great  Britain  flaunted  with  so  much  pride. 
The  strength  of  the  English  with  the  Indians, 
lay  rather  in  a  treaty  which  came  as  an 
inheritance  from  the  Dutch.  This  treaty  was 
called  the  Silver  Covenant  Chain. 

The  Hudson  River  was  discovered  in  1609,  and 
immediately  colonized.  "The  Dutch  took  an 


THE  SILVER  COVENANT  CHAIN  69 

early  advantage  of  the  opportunity  the  river 
afforded  for  trading  for  furs.  Traders  were  at 
work  where  Albany  now  is,  as  early  as  1610. 
Christiaensen  built  a  rude  fort  four  miles  below 
Albany  in  1613,  which  he  named  Nassau.  Here 
Jacob  Eelkens  was  in  command,  and  here  in 
1618  he  negotiated  a  treaty  with  the  Indians 
which  secured  their  alliance  with  the  Dutch 
during  their  whole  possession,  and  to  which  the 
English  fell  heirs.  This  treaty  was  still  in  force 
when  the  war  of  the  Revolution  began."* 

In  their  poetic  use  of  language,  the  Indians 
called  this  treaty  the  "Silver  Covenant  Chain," 
which  bound  them  to  the  interest  of  their 
white  brothers.  It  was  never  broken.  When 
the  Dutch  surrendered  to  the  English,  the 
treaty  was  transferred  to  them,  and  always  re- 
mained intact. 

This  treaty  was  made  on  the  banks  of  what  is 
now  Normans  Kill,  a  small  stream  which 
empties  into  the  Hudson  River  four  miles 
south  of  Albany.  The  place  is  better  known 
through  the  song  of  Hiawatha,  as 

"The  Vale  of  Tawasentha, 
The  green  and  silent  valley, 
By  the  pleasant  water-courses." 

It  was  here  that  the  chain  was  forged  which  was 
destined  to  decide  the  fate  of  nations  and  de- 


70  DECISIVE  DATES 

termine  the  supremacy  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  in 
the  New  World. 

The  Dutch  in  America,  through  this  treaty, 
decided  the  governing  power  of  the  continent. 
For  because  of  this  treaty,  as  it  will  later  be 
shown,  the  British  found  it  possible  to  destroy 
the  power  of  the  French  in  America  forever. 
Frequent  reference  is  made  to  this  Silver 
Covenant  Chain  in  writings  prior  to  the  war  of 
the  Revolution.  The  answer  to  the  appeal  of 
the  Seneca  chief  quoted  above,  for  aid, 
shows  the  high  value  put  upon  this  treaty  by 
the  British. 

Every  effort  was  made  to  extend  this  compact 
to  the  western  Indians.  Had  the  French  not 
come  into  the  Illinois  Country  in  the  latter  part 
of  the  seventeenth  century,  this  alliance  might 
have  been  made.  On  the  other  hand,  had  it 
not  been  for  the  strength  of  the  Silver  Covenant 
Chain  whose  "links  were  never  permitted  to 
rust,"  the  French  priests  with  their  evident 
personal  interest  in  all  the  redmen,  would  sure- 
ly, spite  of  Champlain's  act,  have  won  even  the 
Iroquois  to  espouse  their  cause.  The  constant 
effort  of  the  French  was  to  "break  the  chain," 
and  as  constant  an  effort  of  the  British  was  to 
lengthen  it  until  it  bound  the  tribes  of  the  west- 
ern Indians. 


THE  SILVER  COVENANT  CHAIN  71 

*  Sir  William  Johnson  was  made  Commissioner 
of  Indian  Affairs  in  America  by  Great  Britain 
about  1750.  He  had  great  influence  over  the 
Indians  and  managed  them  wisely  and  well.  He 
urged  the  extension  of  this  treaty  to  the  Indians 
of  the  West.  In  a  letter  written  to  the  Lords 
of  Trade  at  London,  dated  March  6,  1756,  he 
says  of  the  Indians:  "It  gives  me  the  most 
solid  pleasure  that  I  can,  with  the  greatest 
truth,  assure  your  Lordships,  that  the  Six 
United  Nations  (the  Iroquois),  give  us  the 
strongest  intimations  of  sincerity  and  fidelity 
*  *  *  They  seem  solicitous  now  to  enlarge 
their  confederacy  by  bringing  in  the  western 
Indians,  which  I  have  been  advising  them  to 
do  these  several  years."  * 

A  meeting  of  Indian  chiefs  was  called  later  at 
Onondago,  at  which  there  were  some  Shawnee 
and  Delaware  Indians.  Others  came,  and  two 
days  later  met  with  the  Shawnees  and  Dela- 
wares  at  Sir  William  Johnson's  house,  where 
they  formally  joined  the  alliance  and  "were 
bound  with  the  Silver  Covenant  Chain  "  in  the 
interests  of  the  English. 

This  council  was  held  but  just  before  the  loss 
of  Oswego  during  the  French  and  Indian  war. 
After  this  defeat,  the  future  looked  gloomy  to 
the  English.  Sir  William  Johnson  writes  that 


72  DECISIVE  DATES 

this  "unfortunate  revolution  in  our  military 
affairs  entirely  disconcerted  all  my  measures. 
Under  these  circumstances,  I  judged  the  most 
prudent  step  I  could  take  would  be  to  summon 
a  meeting  of  some  of  the  chiefs  of  each  nation  as 
soon  as  possible  at  my  house  in  order  to  know 
their  positive  determination  and  what  part  they 
proposed  to  act."*  The  result  of  this  meeting 
was  the  urgent  wish  expressed  to  the  Lords  of 
Trade  for  a  change  in  the  plans  of  the  campaign. 

Again  Sir  William  writes:  *"If  an  at- 
tempt upon  Niagara  through  Lake  Ontario 
should  be  a  part  of  the  plan  of  operations  for 
this  year,  and  that  our  preparations  for  it  are 
projected  with  judgment  and  carried  on  with 
vigor,  I  am  persuaded  I  could  join  His  Majesty's 
troops  that  way,  with  the  main  body  of  the 
warriors  of  the  Six  Nations  together  with 
many  others  of  their  Allies  and  Dependents,  and 
that  by  taking  proper  measures,  I  could  prevent 
many,  if  not  most,  of  those  northern  and  west- 
ern Indians  who  form  the  Ottawa  Confederacy, 
from  joining  the  French  against  us." 

Later  it  is  recorded  that  at  a  conference  held 
in  the  spring  of  1759,  "a  number  of  (Genesee) 
Indians  were  present  who  brought  word  that 
'as  soon  as  the  waters  were  navigable,  the 
Indians  as  far  west  as  the  Illinois  |  were  com- 


THE  SILVER  COVENANT  CHAIN  73 

ing  to  meet  Sir  William  Johnson."  They  ar- 
rived shortly  afterward.  At  this  conference, 
ten  and  more  nations  agreed  to  bind  themselves 
with  the  Silver  Covenant  Chain. 

It  was  in  the  July  following,  that  a  siege  of 
three  weeks  ending  in  a  severe  conflict,  re- 
sulted in  the  loss  of  Fort  Niagara  to  the  French, 
and  complete  victory  to  the  English  forces. 
The  connecting  link  of  French  military  posts 
between  Canada  and  Louisiana  was  effectually 
broken  forever.  It  was  the  promise  of  the 
victory  on  the  Plains  of  Abraham. 

To  understand  how  influences  from  the 
Illinois  Country  occasioned  defeat  we  must 
know  cause  of  the  war  which  had  been  waging 
for  a  half-dozen  years.  It  echoed  the  war  in 
Europe  between  France  and  Great  Britain, 
yet  came  directly  because  both  nations  dis- 
puted rights  to  the  fur  trade  west  of  the 
Allegheny  Mountains.  It  has  been  seen  that 
the  territory  between  the  thirty-ninth  and 
forty-eighth  degrees  north  latitude  was  claimed 
by  three  of  the  great  European  powers.  As 
the  years  passed,  the  fur  trade  of  this  section 
was  desired  by  both  the  French  and  the 
English.  To  make  their  claim  stronger, 
Great  Britain  purchased  the  land  of  this  sec- 
tion from  the  Iroquois  Indians,  who  held  the 


74  DECISIVE  DATES 

right  to  make  this  sale  because  of  conquest. 
The  purchase  was  made  early  in  the  eighteenth 
century,  but  the  deed  of  transfer  was  ignored 
by  the  French  who  came  into  the  disputed 
country  and  built  forts. 

To  further  possess  this  country,  the  Virginia 
Colony  organized  the  Ohio  Company  with  an 
idea  of  colonizing  the  territory  north  and  west 
of  the  Ohio  River.  The  government  of  France 
was  vainly  urged  to  send  colonists  to  possess 
the  same  territory.  Colonization  did  not  follow 
from  either  source.  The  French  made  good 
their  claim  by  sinking  plates  at  the  mouths  of 
rivers. 

To  stop  this,  the  Governor  of  Virginia  sent 
young  George  Washington  from  Williamsburg 
to  carry  a  message  to  the  French,  remon- 
strating against  their  actions.  He  brought 
back  in  return  a  message  of  refusal  to  with- 
draw troops  from  the  disputed  country.  A 
regiment  of  six  hundred  men  was  organized 
and  sent  to  drive  the  Frenchmen  out  of  the 
country. 

Meanwhile  the  Ohio  Company  sent  thirty 
men  to  build  a  fort  at  the  point  of  the  con- 
fluence of  the  Allegheny  and  Monongehela 
rivers.  They  had  not  progressed  far  when  a 
party  of  French  and  Indians  attacked  and  ex- 


THE  SILVER  COVENANT  CHAIN  75 

pelled  them.  These  completed  the  fort  and 
called  it  Fort  DuQuesne,  in  honor  of  the 
Governor  General  of  Canada. 

Not  knowing  the  fort  was  occupied  by  French 
instead  of  English,  the  Virginia  troops  pressed 
forward  toward  it.  On  the  way,  one  company 
under  the  command  of  George  Washington, 
then  a  young  man  hardly  in  his  twenties,  met 
and  attacked  a  company  of  French  soldiers 
under  the  command  of  Jumon  de  Villiers,  and 
killed  the  commanding  officer.  His  brother, 
Neyon  de  Villiers,  was  of  the  garrison  at  Fort 
Chartres  on  the  Mississippi  River,  in  the  Illinois 
Country.  Hearing  of  his  brother's  death,  Cap- 
tain de  Villiers  asked  and  received  permission 
to  take  troops  to  the  relief  of  Fort  DuQuesne. 
With  his  soldiers  from  the  Illinois  Country, 
de  Villiers  went  to  the  rescue  and  compelled 
the  return  to  Virginia  of  Washington  and  his 
troops,  and  the  agreement  of  the  English  colony 
not  to  erect  any  establishment  west  of  the 
mountains  for  a  year. 

This  is  the  first  record  of  the  bravery  of  the 
Illinois  soldier,  but  by  no  means  the  last.  The 
soldiers  from  Illinois  carried  supplies  to  Fort 
DuQuesne,  making  the  trip  by  way  of  the 
Mississippi  River  to  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio, 
thence  up  that  stream. 


76  DECISIVE  DATES 

As  the  war  progressed,  there  was  a  great 
demand  in  the  army  of  the  French  for  increased 
number  of  soldiers.  The  English  navy  cut  off 
most  of  the  reinforcements  from  France,  while 
the  English,  on  the  contrary,  were  constantly 
receiving  troops  from  the  mother-country. 

Every  effort  was  made  north  of  the  Ohio 
River,  by  the  French,  to  stir  up  the  Indians 
to  help  in  the  preservation  of  the  Northwest 
for  the  joint  occupancy  of  the  Gallic  and  native 
American  races. 

In  the  spring  of  1759,  while  Sir  William 
Johnson  was  holding  the  Council  and  Conference 
of  Indians  at  his  House  in  far  away  New  York, 
which  resulted  in  the  transfer  of  the  allegiance 
of  the  Indians  "as  far  west  as  the  Illinois," 
from  the  French  to  the  English,  Mons.  de 
Aubry,  Commandant  at  Fort  Chartres  in  the 
Illinois  Country,  was  raising  troops  to  take 
east  with  him. 

Four  hundred  men  started  with  him  in 
bateaux  and  canoes  down  the  Mississippi  to 
the  mouth  of  the  Ohio,  which  they  ascended 
as  far  as  the  mouth  of  the  Wabash.  They  could 
go  no  further  up  the  Ohio  River,  since  the 
English  were  in  possession  of  its  headwaters. 
Ascending  the  Wabash  River  to  the  Miami 
villages  near  the  present  site  of  Fort  Wayne, 


THE  SILVER  COVENANT  CHAIN  77 

they  made  the  portage,  and  passing  down  the 
Maumee,  they  entered  Lake  Erie. 

They  were  constantly  reinforced  by  bands  of 
different  tribes  of  Indians,  and  by  Canadian 
militia,  as  they  passed  the  several  posts,  until 
there  was  an  army  of  sixteen  hundred  men. 
Of  these  there  were  six  hundred  Frenchmen  and 
one  thousand  Indians.  Before  Aubry  reached 
Presque  Isle,  he  was  joined  by  other  bodies  of 
Indians  and  Canadians  from  the  region  of  the 
upper  lakes.  M.  de  Lignery  had  assembled 
the  Ohio  Indians  at  Presque  Isle,  and  met 
him  at  Fort  Machault,  at  the  mouth  of  French 
Creek  in  Pennsylvania. 

Aubry 's  intention  was  to  go  down  the  river 
and  retake  Fort  DuQuesne,  or  Fort  Pitt,  as 
the  English  called  it.  But  letters  received  at 
Fort  Machault  changed  his  plans.  The  news 
that  the  "English  had  gone  against  Fort 
Niagara"  determined  Aubry  to  go  to  the  rescue 
of  that  fort.  His  route  was  up  French  Creek, 
thence  by  portage  to  Presque  Isle,  and  sailing 
along  the  shores  of  Lake  Erie  to  Niagara.  Sir 
William  Johnson  being  informed  of  this  ad- 
vance of  the  French  army  was  prepared  to 
meet  them  on  the  road  between  Niagara  Falls 
and  the  fort. 


78  DECISIVE  DATES 

As  the  French  made  their  appearance,  they 
were  seen  to  be  marching  along  a  path  about 
eight  feet  wide  and  were  in  readiness  to  fight 
in  close  order  and  without  ranks  or  files. 
The  Indians  of  the  English  army  advanced  to 
speak  to  those  of  the  French  army.  After 
this  conference  the  Indians  of  the  French  army 
refused  to  advance  under  pretext  that  they 
were  at  peace  with  the  Iroquois.  Thus  were 
the  French  abandoned  by  their  chief  force ! 

Utter  defeat  followed  and  a  massacre  ensued 
in  which  all  the  French  officers  were  either 
killed,  wounded,  or  taken  prisoner.  McCarty, 
the  commandant  at  Fort  Chartres,  sadly  said: 
"Niagara  cost  us  the  flower  of  our  soldiers." 

The  treachery  of  the  savage  allies  of  the 
French  carried  victory  to  the  British.  Sir 
William  Johnson  reported  it  in  these  words: — 
"To  show  your  Lordships  that  my  Labours 
have  not  been  in  vain,  I  now  send  duplicates 
(of  former  letter  and  treaty  at  Canajohary),  it 
(the  treaty)  being  concluded  at  a  general  con- 
vention of  the  Six  Nations  and  the  Allies  (in 
the  spring  of  1759),  after  many  Solicitations 
and  interested  Arguments  Suggested  to  them 
by  me,  to  join  us  against  the  Enemy  which  they 
did,  last  year  to  the  amount  of  above  a  thousand 
fighting  men  at  Niagara,  from  whence  I  sent 


THE  SILVER  COVENANT  CHAIN  79 

them  home  laden  with  the  spoils  of  the  French ; 
and  tho'  the  Enemy  put  me  to  a  deal  of  trouble, 
when  their  army  was  near  upon  us,  by  sending 
some  of  the  Indians  under  pretence  of  Parley 
with  ours,  but  rather  to  inveigle  and  intimidate 
ours  (?)  /  found  means  to  retain  even  them  who, 
though  come  into  our  camp  under  French  in- 
fluence, /  made  them  fight  against  their  old 
friends."* 

Such  was  the  result  of  the  Indians  from  "as 
far  as  the  Illinois"  being  bound  by  the  Silver 
Covenant  Chain  in  1759.  Had  these  western 
Indians  remained  as  true  to  the  moral  obligation 
they  had  to  the  interests  of  the  French  as  had 
the  eastern  Indians  to  the  promise  their  fathers 
had  made  to  Jacob  Eelkins  near  a  century  and 
a  half  before  this  time,  "the  Chain"  would 
never  have  drawn  them  away  from  their  alliance 
to  their  friends,  the  French.  If  they  had 
turned  a  deaf  ear  to  the  efforts  of  Sir  William 
Johnson  and  refused  to  be  bound  by  the  Silver 
Covenant  Chain,  the  war  would  probably  have 
had  a  different  ending — when  end  it  did.  The 
passing  of  New  France  in  America  would  have 
been  at  least  delayed,  if  not  averted.  The 
history  of  our  State  and  our  Nation  would  read 
other  than  it  does  now. 


80  DECISIVE  DATES 

Victory  to  the  British  at  Niagara*  was  quickly 
followed  by  victory  at  other  points  until  upon 
the  Plains  of  Abraham  at  Quebec,  the  "Lilies 
of  France'"  were  displaced  by  the  Dragon  of 
St.  George.  The  Anglo-Saxon  race  dominated 
the  New  World. 

NOTES  AND  EXPLANATIONS 

Page  61       *  Shawnee  meant  south. 

t  See  Beckwith's  notes  of  the  Northwest,  p.  170. 

Page  62      j  Charlevoiz's  History  of  New  France.Vol.  5,  p.  130. 

Page  63      *  Hennepin,  p.  132  (London  Ed.) 

Page  64  *  Beckwith's  Historic  notes  of  the  Northwest,  p. 
108. 

Page  66      -j-  Paris  Documents,  Vol.  9,  p.  161. 

Page  67      *  New  York  Colonial  Documents,  Vol.  4,  p.  729. 

Page  69      *  Qlde  Ulster,  Vol.  4,  p.  3. 

Page  71  *  Letter  of  Sir  William  Johnson,  dated  September 
10,  1756,  to  the  Lords  of  Trade  at  London,  Hist. 
New  York,  p.  733. 

Page  72      *  Letter  dated  May  17,  1 759. 

t  Although  the  expression  "as  far  west  as  the 
Illinois"  is  usually  considered  to  include  the  country 
of  the  Illinois,  there  is  every  reason  to  consider  that 
here  it  means  the  river  of  that  name.  Since  the 
tribe  of  the  Illini  had  been  moved  beyond  and 
below  the  river  a  half  century  before,  an  inference 
may  be  drawn  that  this  tribe  was  not  among  the 
deserters. 

Page  79  *  A  letter  written  by  Sir  William  Johnson  to  the 
Board  of  Trade  at  London,  dated  5th  of  June,  1760. 

Page  80  *  Many  historians  state  that  the  Indians  re- 
mained neutral  during  the  Seven  Years'  War.  Such 
was  the  case  only  during  the  first  years  of  the  war 
or  until  the  British,  at  the  suggestion  of  Sir  William 
Johnson,  made  an  attack  upon  Fort  Niagara.  Sir 
William  Johnson  had  already  persuaded  the  western 
Indians  to  be  bound  with  the  "Silver  Covenant 
Chain."  After  this  the  red  man  was  an  ally  of  the 
British. 


THE  SILVER  COVENANT  CHAIN  81 

Illustra-       The  first  white  explorers  of  the  Mississippi  River 
^°n         noted  strangely  pictured  rocks  at  different  places 

Piaesa       along  its  way- 

Bird  The  most  striking  of  these  was  the  one  on  the 

bluff  at  the  point  where  afterward  the  city  of  Alton 
was  built.  This  represented  the  Piasa  or  Devil 
bird  and  might  have  been  seen  as  late  as  1856  when 
the  State  Prison  was  built  there  and  they  quarried 
the  rock  and  destroyed  this  terror  of  the  native 
Indians. 

There  is  a  narrow  ravine  between  the  city  of 
Alton  and  the  mouth  of  the  Illinois  River  through 
which  a  small  stream  runs  to  empty  into  the  Missis- 
sippi. This  is  known  as  the  Piasa.  Near  the  mouth 
of  this  stream,  bluffs  of  sandstone  rise  upon  which 
the  representation  of  the  Piasa  birds  was  made. 
No  Indian  could  ever  be  induced  to  look  upon  these 
pictured  rocks.  Indeed  they  were  horrible  to  see. 
The  legend  of  the  Piasa  briefly  told  is  this :  "  Many 
thousand  moons  before  the  arrival  of  the  paleface' ' 
a  bird  of  such  dimensions  that  he  could  easily  carry 
off  a  buffalo,  lived  in  the  locality  of  these  pictured 
rocks.  At  one  time  this  bird  tasted  the  flesh  of  an 
Indian  and  ever  after,  one  of  the  Piasa  birds  would 
watch  opportunity  to  dart  upon  an  Indian  and 
bear  him  off  into  one  of  the  caves  of  the  bluff  to 
devour  him.  Hundreds  of  warriors  were  de- 
voured in  this  way  and  the  bird  became  a  terror  to 
all  Indians. 

At  last,  a  great  chief,  Onatoga  by  name  separ- 
ated himself  from  his  tribe  and  fasted  the  length  of 
a  moon  praying  the  Great  Spirit  to  protect  his 
children  from  the  dread  Piasa.  On  the  last  night 
of  his  fast,  the  Great  Spirit  appeared  to  Onatoga 
in  a  dream  and  told  him  to  take  twenty  of  his  war- 
riors, to  arm  each  with  a  bow  and  poisoned  arrows 
and  take  them  to  the  mouth  of  this  cave. 

They  must  be  concealed  but  another  warrior 
must  stand  exposed  to  the  sight  of  the  Piasa  and 
when  the  monster  sprang  at  him  the  men  must 
shoot  at  the  bird. 

Onatoga  chose  to,  himself,  stand  in  full  view  as 
the  prey  of  the  Piasa.  He  so  loved  his  people  that 
he  was  willing  to  give  up  his  life  for  them.  When 
all  were  ready,  Onatoga  planted  his  feet  firmly 
upon  the  earth  and  drawing  up  his  manly  form,  he 
began  chanting  the  death  song  of  the  Indian  war- 
rior. A  moment  and  the  Piasa  arose  in  the  air  and 
darted  down  upon  the  chief.  But  the  monster 
(6) 


82  DECISIVE  DATES 

had  no  more  than  reached  his  victim  when  twenty 
arrows  from  twenty  bows  pierced  its  body  in  as 
many  places  and  the  Piasa  expired  while  Onatoga 
remained  unhurt. 

The  Miamis  had  a  tradition  concerning  the  Piasa 
bird  which  accounted  for  their  hatred  of  the  Illini 
and  the  ultimate  almost  complete  annihilation  of 
that  confederacy.  In  their  tradition  the  Piasa 
showed  great  favor  to  the  Michegannis  when  they 
met  the  Miamis  in  this  Piasa  canyon.  This  ill 
will  caused  by  their  defeat  was  handed  from  one 
generation  to  another  until  opportunity  came  to 
join  their  strength  to  the  Penotomy  confederacy 
which  worked  such  disaster  to  all  the  tribes  of  the 
Illini. 


.^    * 


INTERIM 
1759-1778 

THE  STORY  OF  PONTIAC 
END  OF  THE  PERIOD  OF  ROMANCE 


BRITISH  DOMINATION 


INTERIM 

1759-1778 

THE  French  colonies  in  the  Illinois  Coun- 
try, were   the    last  to  be  transferred  to 
the  rule  of  Great  Britain.     This  delay  in 
which  the  flag  of  France  defiantly  fluttered  in 
the  Illinois  breeze  (the  sole  spot  in   the   New 
World  where  it  waved  unmolested)  was  owing 
to  the  interference  of  Pontiac,  an  Ottawa  chief, 
who  three  times  drove  back  the  British  that 
were  coming  to  take  legal  possession  of  Fort 
Chartres. 

Major  Robert  Rogers  was  sent  to  tell  the 
western  forts  of  the  surrender  of  Canada  and 
the  change  in  government  at  the  close  of  the 
French  and  Indian  War.  He  met  Pontiac,  a 
celebrated  Ottawa  chief,  near  what  is  now  Cleve- 
land, Ohio.  Pontiac  stopped  him,  asking  the 
reason  of  his  (Roger's)  coming  into  that  country 
without  his  (Pontiac's)  permission.  He  was 
informed  of  the  change  from  French  to  English 
rule,  and  at  last  permitted  Rogers  to  proceed. 
He  even  graciously  accompanied  him  and 
averted  a  massacre  of  Rogers  and  his  company, 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Detroit  River.  But  Pontiac 

85 


86  DECISIVE  DATES 

was  by  no  means  won  to  the  cause  Rogers  repre- 
sented. He  hated  the  English. 

Pontiac  comprehended  the  situation.  He 
was  a  man  of  rare  intelligence,  and  he  correctly 
read  the  signs  of  the  times.  He  saw  the  differ- 
ence between  the  English  and  the  French ;  that 
the  one  were  settlers,  the  other  but  fur-traders, 
they  were  not  seeking  homes.  He  knew  that 
English  settlements  in  North  America  meant 
the  destruction  of  his  race. 

Pontiac  made  a  plan  to  drive  the  English 
away.  It  was  a  desperate  plan  to  save  the  coun- 
try to  the  red  man,  and  it  involved  the  effort  of 
all  the  tribes  of  the  Northwest,  under  the  most 
absolute  secrecy.  The  plan  succeeded  in  so  far 
as  that  no  white  man  had  the  least  idea  of  what 
was  contemplated  by  the  Indians.  When  the 
chosen  day  arrived,  every  garrison  west  of  Fort 
Pitt,  excepting  that  of  Detroit,  by  either 
strategy  or  force,  was  captured  by  the  Indians. 

But  Pontiac  planned  without  understanding 
the  strength  of  the  white  man.  Detroit  held 
out  for  fifteen  months  against  the  Indians. 
Then  the  garrison  was  relieved  by  General 
Bradstreet. 

Pontiac  gave  up  his  plan  of  completely  con- 
quering the  white  man.  He  crossed  the  prairies 
to  Fort  Chartres  on  the  Mississippi.  This  fort 


THE  STORY  OF  PONTIAC  87 

was  not  surrendered  to  the  English  until  two 
years  after  peace  was  declared,  because  of  the 
fear  Pontiac  aroused.  The  cessation  of  hostilities 
on  the  part  of  Pontiac,  and  the  transfer  of  Fort 
Chartres  to  the  English,  was  at  last  secured 
through  a  conference,  which  George  Croghan, 
Deputy  Supt.  of  Indian  Affairs,  held  with  this 
great  chief.* 

After  the  English  garrison  had  taken  posses- 
sion of  Fort  Chartres,  the  surrounding  French 
towns  became  almost  depopulated.  Many  fam- 
ilies moved  across  the  river  to  the  Spanish  towns 
on  the  west  side  of  the  Mississippi.  Those  who 
did  not  move,  although  at  heart  remaining 
loyal  subjects  to  the  French  Crown  and  clinging 
to  their  old  customs,  reluctantly  took  the  oath 
of  allegiance  to  Great  Britain.  New  France  in 
America  had  ceased  to  exist.  Thus  ended  the 
period  of  Romance  in  Illinois  history. 

It  is  the  pen  of  the  poet  or  novelist,  or  the 
brush  of  the  artist  that  should  be  used  to  picture 
this  period,  the  historian  is  out  of  place  in  re- 
cording cold  facts  in  detail  during  the  hundred 
years  of  Illinois  under  the  French.  This  period 
has  had  little  influence  upon  succeeding 
events;  it  made  slight  impress  upon  after  his- 
tory. Yet  it  is  a  time  fraught  with  interest  and 
abounds  in  attractive  events  to  one  who  looks 


88  DECISIVE  DATES 

into  the  past  for  something  more  than  statistical 
records  with  which  to  account  for,  or  prove  the 
value  of  later  history.  It  is  the  thread  of  gold 
to  brighten  a  dull  fabric,  or  the  elusive  fragrance 
which  heightens  the  attraction  of  the  rose. 

The  passing  years  have  obliterated  all  trace 
of  life  during  this  period.  Another  people  have 
lived  a  different  life  in  the  land  of  the  Gauls. 
A  search  for  evidence  of  life  of  this  hundred 
years  is  rewarded  by  the  sight  of  an  island  in  the 
river  rapidly  being  washed  away,  with  here  and 
there  a  handful  of  old  coin  or  some  small  piece 
of  silver  which  has  been  dug  out  of  the  side  of 
the  bluff  where  the  great  Mississippi  has,  in  its 
irony,  cast  it. 

The  British  domination  of  the  Illinois  Country 
lasted  from  1765  (Pontiac  kept  the  garrison  at 
Fort  Chartres  from  formal  surrender  for  two 
years)  to  1778.  It  was  thirteen  years  of  inac- 
tivity other  than  the  constant  inciting  of  the 
Indians  to  harrass  the  colonists  in  Kentucky  and 
elsewhere  on  the  Ohio  River.  These  colonists 
had  gone  west  in  spite  of  the  edict  of  the  king  of 
England  made  at  the  close  of  the  Seven  Years' 
War,  that  the  Alleghany  Mountains  should  be 
the  western  limit  of  colonization.  The  policy 
of  Great  Britain  was  against  extended  coloniza- 
tion of  the  West  because  of  fear  that  the  mother- 


BRITISH  DOMINATION  89 

country  could  not  control  the  colonists,  but 
that  they  would  do  as  they  did  very  soon  do  on 
the  eastern  coast — declare  their  independence. 

The  French  subjects  in  the  Illinois  Country 
were  discontented,  and  petitioned  the  king  to  be 
attached  to  the  Province  of  Quebec.  This  was 
done  in  June,  1774.  The  act  of  British  Parlia- 
ment which  enlarged  the  Province  of  Quebec  so 
as  to  include  the  Illinois  Country,  further  pro- 
vided for  the  free  exercise  of  religion  in  this 
Province,  also  that  the  ancient  laws  of  the 
French  be  restored  to  them,  particularly  that 
trial  by  jury  cease.  This  was  the  first  con- 
sideration the  French  had  received  since  the 
Treaty  of  Peace  at  Paris,  eleven  years  before, 
at  the  close  of  the  French  and  Indian  War. 
It  was  not,  however,  their  first  petition.  Three 
years  before  this  time  a  mass  meeting  at  Kas- 
kaskia  is  recorded  as  protesting  against  the 
tyranny  of  those  placed  in  authority. 

At  this  meeting  a  demand  to  be  granted  in- 
stitutions such  as  those  of  the  Connecticut 
colony,  with  a  right  to  appoint  their  own  gov- 
ernor and  civil  magistrates,  was  made.  Since 
Connecticut  was  the  only  one  of  the  English 
colonies  which  had  preserved  its  ancient  charter, 
there  needs  no  stronger  evidence  that  the  French 
colonies  of  the  Illinois  Country,  so  lately  put 


90  DECISIVE  DATES 

under  the  rule  of  Great  Britain,  were  imbued 
with  as  earnest  a  desire  for  independence  as  were 
the  English  colonies  along  the  coast,  who  were 
on  the  threshold  of  the  War  of  the  Revolution. 

The  answer  to  the  demand  for  institutions 
modeled  upon  those  of  Connecticut,  was  a 
decided  refusal. 

Intercourse  between  these  colonies  on  the 
Mississippi  River  and  those  on  the  Coast, 
was  limited.  The  English  soldiers  at  Fort 
Gage  and  Vincennes  fostered  a  terror  of  the 
Americans  in  both  the  Frenchmen  and  the 
Indians.  The  former  were  discouraged  in  a 
knowledge  of  the  methods  of  their  eastern 
neighbors,  and  the  latter  were  encouraged  in  all 
manner  of  cruelties  perpetrated  upon  the 
frontiersman  along  the  Ohio  River  and  in  Ken- 
tucky. 

NOTES  AND  EXPLANATIONS 

Page  87  *  Croghan  and  Pontiac  met  on  the  familiar  trail 
which  even  yet  may  be  discerned  in  the  North 
Western  part  of  Edgar  County  and  after  a  confer- 
ence agreed  upon  a  treaty  of  Peace  when  they 
reached  Kaskaskia,  whither  they  journeyed.  A 
few  rods  south  of  this  trail  is  situated  the  old  spring 
which  was  used  by  the  Indians  and  the  early  French 
Explorers. 

The  old  spring  is  now  a  well  which  overflows  the 
year  around.  Mr.  Geo.  W.  Brown,  the  Superin- 
tendent of  Edgar  County  Schools  plans  marking 
this  historic  spot  with  a  tablet  to  be  inscribed : 


BRITISH  DOMINATION  91 

"  Near  here  on  July  18,  A.  D.  1765,  Colonel  George 
Croghan,  Deputy  Superintendent  of  Indian  Affairs, 
for  the  British  Government,  held  a  treaty  of  Peace 
with  Pontiac,  chief  of  the  Ottawa  and  Leader  of  the 
Great  Indian  Confederacy.  By  the  terms  of  this 
agreement,  the  Allegiance  of  the  Indians  was  trans- 
ferred from  the  French  to  the  English,  thus  secur- 
ing the  eastern  Mississippi  valley  for  Anglo-Saxon 
civilization." 


After  this  treaty,  made  with  Major  George  Grog- 
han,  Pontiac  went  to  St.  Louis  to  live.  One  day 
he  went  to  Cahokia  against  the  advice  of  St.  Ange, 
his  friend.  Here  he  was  made  drunk,  and,  at  the 
instigation  of  an  English  merchant  of  St.  Louis, 
was  foully  murdered  by  one  of  the  Indians. 
Whether  with  good  reason  or  not,  the  claim  that 
it  was  an  Indian  of  the  Illini  Confederacy  called 
out  all  the  enmity  of  all  other  tribes  against  every 
Illini. 

St.  Ange  had  Pontiac  buried.  It  is  in  the  rotunda 
of  the  hotel  which  covers  the  site  of  his  burial  place 
that  the  D.  A.  R.  of  St.  Louis  has  placed  the  tablet 
to  his  memorv. 


DATE  III.  1778 
THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  NORTHWEST 


DATE  III.  —  1778 

IN  the  plans  of  the  War  for  Independence, 
fought  by  the  English  colonists,  the  territory 
along  the  eastern  coast  alone  seemed  consid- 
ered of  importance.  The  great  extent  of  coun- 
try, formerly  New  France,  which  became  British 
possessions  at  the  close  of  the  Seven  Years'  War, 
appears  to  have  been  underestimated.  Yet  what 
would  have  been  the  effect  upon  this  country, 
or  upon  the  world,  if,  when  the  Revolutionary 
War  was  over,  the  Alleghany  mountains  or  even 
the  Ohio  River,  rather  than  the  Great  Lakes,  had 
been  the  northern  and  western  limits  of  the 
United  States! 

The  spirit  of  love  of  adventure  which  brought 
the  first  settlers  to  Virginia,  gave  their  children 
the  desire  to  press  on  into  the  wilderness  of  the 
West  in  spite  of  the  edict  of  the  king  to  the  con- 
trary. Beyond  the  mountains,  they  found  and 
settled  an  Eden,  for  such  the  fertile  land  of  Ken- 
tucky appeared  to  be.  Virginia  extended  her 
territory  south  of  the  Ohio  to  the  Mississippi 
River,  and  the  county  of  Kentucky  was  a 
possession  only  limited  in  value  because  of  the 
hostile  Indians  who  lived  or  came  into  it.  The 

95 


96  .      DECISIVE  DATES 

Indian  cruelties  were  increased  through  the  in- 
fluence of  the  British  garrison  in  the  Illinois 
Country.  At  last  the  policy  of  the  British 
soldier's  paying  for  scalps  of  the  settlers  on  the 
frontier,  made  life  in  Kentucky  so  uncertain 
that  help  was  asked  from  Virginia. 

But  the  county  of  Kentucky  was  a  long  way 
from  Williamsburg,  the  seat  of  government  of 
Virginia,  and  the  militia,  together  with  all 
possible  volunteer  troops,  were  all  needed  in  the 
War  of  the  Revolution,  then  being  waged  on  the 
eastern  coast.  The  gravity  of  the  situation  for 
the  Kentucky  pioneer,  together  with  the  im- 
portance of  conquering  the  Northwest  for  the 
new  nation,  were  apparent  to  George  Rogers 
Clark,  himself  one  of  the  pioneer  settlers  of 
Kentucky. 

Patrick  Henry  was  the  governor  of  Virginia. 
He  was  a  relative  of  George  Rogers  Clark.  It 
was  a  long,  a  hard  and  a  hazardous  journey  from 
Kentucky  to  Williamsburg,  yet  Clark  undertook 
it,  and  secured  permission  to  raise  troops  to  aid 
him  in  his  plan  of  relief  to  the  frontiersman, 
from  not  only  the  Indian  enemies,  but  from  those 
who  were  urging  the  Indians  against  the  help- 
less settlers.  After  much  difficulty,  the  troops 
were  secured  as  volunteers.  Clark  started  with 
them,  ostensibly  to  protect  the  frontier,  but  he 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  NORTHWEST  97 

carried  secret  orders  from  Gov.  Henry  to  cap- 
ture Kaskaskia. 

In  a  history  of  Indiana  prepared  by  Judge 
John  B.  Dillon,  in  1843,  extracts  are  taken  from 
the  Manuscript  Memoirs  composed  by  George 
Rogers  Clark,  at  the  joint  request  of  Presidents 
Jefferson  and  Madison.  It  is  from  this  source 
that  the  extracts  given  here  are  taken.  Through 
these  extracts,  we  learn  in  the  words  of  George 
Rogers  Clark  himself,  how  British  Illinois  be- 
came part  of  the  new  American  Nation,  and  the 
Cross  of  St.  George  gave  place  to  the  Stars  and 
Stripes,  which  have  never  been  lowered. 

The  trip  down  the  Ohio  was  safely  made  as 
far  as  the  island,  now  Louisville.  They  reached 
this  place  June  24,  1778.  Learning  that  spies 
were  kept  below  Kaskaskia,  Clark  decided  to 
land  and  march  overland  to  Fort  Gage.  The 
men  who  were  not  able  to  endure  the  fatigue 
of  the  march  were  left  at  the  Ohio  River.  That 
gave  Clark  but  four  companies  with  which  to 
undertake  the  capture  of  Kaskaskia. 

It  was  at  this  time  that  Clark  received  a  letter 
from  Colonel  Campbell,  dated  at  Pittsburg, 
which  informed  him  of  the  treaty  just  made 
between  France  and  America.  This  knowledge 
came  at  an  opportune  time,  and  Clark  used  it  to 
advantage,  not  only  in  securing  the  good-will  of 

(7) 


98  DECISIVE  DATES 

the  French,  but  as  well  in  gaining  their  influence 
over  the  Indians  in  behalf  of  the  Virginians. 

Since  they  were  to  leave  the  Ohio  at  Fort 
Massac,  they  landed  at  an  island  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Tennessee  River.  There  they  captured  a 
party  of  hunters  coming  down  the  river,  from 
whom  they  received  valuable  information. 
These  men  were  formerly  from  the  East,  and 
expressed  happiness  in  the  adventure  of  the 
Virginians.  Since  Clark  had  heard  nothing 
from  Kaskaskia  for  many  months,  it  was  well 
for  him  to  learn  that  "the  militia  (at  Kaskaskia) 
was  kept  in  good  order  and  spies  on  the 
Mississippi,  and  that  all  hunters  both  Indian 
and  others  were  ordered  to  keep  a  good  look-out 
for  the  rebels."*  These  hunters  further  told 
Clark  "that  if  they  (the  British)  received  timely 
notice,  they  could  collect  all  forces  and  give  a 
warm  reception,  and  that  the  people  were 
taught  to  harbor  a  most  horrid  idea  of  the  rebels, 
especially  the  Virginians."* 

Clark  and  his  men  concealed  their  boats  in  a 
little  gulley  a  small  distance  from  Massac  and 
set  out  on  their  march.  They  "set  out  a 
northwest  course.  The  weather  was  favorable. 
In  some  parts  water  was  scarce,  as  well  as  game. 
Of  course  they  suffered  drought  and  hunger, 
but  not  to  excess."! 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  NORTHWEST  99 

On  the  third  day  the  guide  became  confused 
and  aroused  Clark's  suspicions.  But  he  fortu- 
nately regained  the  trail  with  little  delay. 
After  many  days'  weary  march  "on  the  fourth 
of  July,"  continues  Clark  in  his  Memoirs,  "in 
the  evening,  we  got  within  a  few  miles  of  the 
town  (Kaskaskia),  where  we  lay  until  near 
dark,  keeping  spies  ahead,  after  which  we  com- 
menced our  march,  and  took  possession  of  a 
house  wherein  a  large  family  lived,  on  the 
bank  of  the  Kaskaskia  River,  about  three- 
quarters  of  a  mile  above  the  town.  Here  we 
were  informed  that  the  people,  a  few  days 
before,  were  under  arms,  but  had  concluded 
that  the  cause  of  the  alarm  was  without  foun- 
dation, and  that  at  that  time  there  were  a  great 
number  of  men  in  town,  but  that  the  Indians 
had  generally  left  it,  and  at  the  present  all  was 
quiet.  We  soon  procured  a  sufficiency  of 
vessels,  the  more  in  ease  to  convey  us  across 
the  river. 

"With  one  of  the  divisions,  I  marched  to  the 
fort,  and  ordered  the  other  two  into  different 
quarters  of  the  town.  If  I  met  with  no  resist- 
ance, at  a  certain  signal  a  general  shout  was  to 
be  given  and  certain  parts  were  to  be  immediate- 
ly possessed,  and  men  of  each  detachment, 
who  could  speak  the  French  language,  were  to 


100  DECISIVE  DATES 

run  through  every  street  and  proclaim  what 
had  happened,  and  inform  the  inhabitants  that 
every  person  that  appeared  in  the  street  would 
be  shot  down.  This  disposition  had  its  desired 
effect.  In  a  very  little  time  we  had  complete 
possession,  and  every  avenue  was  guarded  to 
prevent  any  escape  to  give  the  alarm  to  the 
other  villages  in  case  of  opposition.  Various 
orders  had  been  issued,  not  worth  mentioning. 

"I  don't  suppose  greater  silence  ever  reigned 
among  the  inhabitants  of  a  place  than  did  at 
this :  not  a  person  to  be  seen,  not  a  word  to  be 
heard  by  them,  for  some  time,  but,  designedly, 
the  greatest  noise  kept  up  by  our  troops  through 
every  quarter  of  the  town,  and  patrols  con- 
tinued the  whole  night  around  it,  as  inter- 
cepting any  information  was  a  capital  object, 
and  in  about  two  hours,  the  whole  of  the  in- 
habitants were  disarmed,  and  informed  that 
if  anyone  was  taken  attempting  to  make  his 
escape,  he  should  be  immediately  put  to 
death."* 

Thus  it  was  that  without  a  shot  nor  the  shed- 
ding of  a  drop  of  blood,  Kaskaskiaf  on  the 
Mississippi  River  was  surrendered  to  the  Ameri- 
cans and  the  vast  territory  hitherto  claimed  by 
Spain,  settled  by  France,  and  possessed  by 
Great  Britain,  became  the  property  of  Virginia, 


Courtesy  of  the  Illinois  State  Historical  Society. 

FATHER  PIERRE  GIBAULT. 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  NORTHWEST  101 

and  shortly  afterward  was  ceded  to  the  United 
State. 

George  Rogers  Clark,  who  through  tact  and 
aid  from  Father  Gibault,  the  priest  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  church,  whose  parish  included 
all  the  French  towns  from  Cahokia  on  the  west 
to  Post  Vincent  on  the  east,  soon  had  the  oath 
of  allegiance  from  every  citizen,  and  completed 
his  conquest. 

His  afterward  brave  capture  of  Fort  Sack- 
ville  (Post  Vincennes)  was  but  the  necessary 
act  in  holding  the  territory.  Father  Gibault 
went  to  Vincennes  and  secured  the  allegiance 
of  the  people.  General  Hamilton  was  in  com- 
mand of  Fort  Sackville,  but  was  at  that  time 
absent  in  Detroit.  Clark  seeing  the  necessity 
of  an  American  officer  at  Post  Vincennes,  sent 
Captain  Helm  to  command  at  that  post  and 
also  appointed  him  agent  for  Indian  affairs  in 
the  Department  of  the  Wabash.  Captain  Helm 
took  command  of  the  fort  about  the  middle  of 
August. 

Unfortunately  Clark  was  given  neither  the 
men  nor  the  authority  to  march  against  Detroit, 
and  by  the  capture  of  its  garrison  to  complete 
the  conquest  of  the  Northwest.  It  was  in 
October  of  that  year  (1778)  that  the  Assembly 
of  Virginia  passed  an  Act  making  the  territory 


102  DECISIVE  DATES 

west  of  the  Ohio  River  into  a  county  of  Virginia. 
But  before  this  law  could  avail  anything, 
General  Hamilton  collected  an  army  of  about 
thirty  British  soldiers,  fifty  volunteers,  and  four 
hundred  Indians,  and  on  the  15th  of  December 
passed  down  the  Wabash  River  and  took  pos- 
session of  Post  Vincennes  for  Great  Britain. 

Clark  knew  Hamilton  would  undertake  to 
capture  his  forces,  so  he  resolved  to  save  them 
by  himself  capturing  Hamilton.  He  sent  some 
of  his  men  whom  he  had  re-enlisted,  by  boat 
down  the  Mississippi  and  up  the  Ohio  and 
Wabash  rivers,  with  instructions  to  their  com- 
mander, Captain  Rogers,  to  secrete  himself  a 
few  miles  below  Vincennes,  and  prohibit  any 
person  from  passing  either  up  or  down.  With 
another  part  of  his  men  he  undertook  the  march 
across  the  country  to  Vincennes.  Words  are 
inadequate  to  express  the  hardships  of  that 
march. 

Across  prairies,  through  swamps  and  marshes, 
which  were  flooded  by  continual  February 
rains,  with  water  waist-high  or  higher,  the 
brave  men  followed  their  leader.  Never  was 
a  commander  taxed  heavier  to  keep  up  the 
spirits  of  his  men!  Never  was  there  a  display 
of  greater  courage  or  more  praise-worthy  hero- 
ism. Because  of  his  secrecy  and  rapid 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  NORTHWEST  103 

movements,  Hamilton  had  no  idea  he  had  left 
Kaskaskia,  when  Clark  surprised  him  at  Vin- 
cennes.  The  town  was  only  too  glad  to  sur- 
render and  the  people  assisted  at  the  siege  of 
the  Fort.  The  result  of  this  siege  was  that 
Hamilton  and  all  his  force  were  made  prisoners 
of  war. 

George  Rogers  Clark  held  military  possession 
of  the  Northwest  until  the  close  of  the  war  of 
the  Revolution.  The  correspondence  relative 
to  the  treaty  of  peace,  held  at  Paris  at  the  close 
of  the  war,  shows  the  importance  of  Clark's 
conquest.  The  British  insisted  that  the  Ohio 
River  should  be  the  Northern  boundary  of  the 
United  States  and  the  "American  Commission- 
ers relied  to  sustain  their  claim  that  the  lakes 
should  be  the  boundary,  upon  the  fact  that 
General  Clark  had  conquered  the  country,  and 
was  in  the  undisputed  military  possession  of  it 
at  the  time  of  the  negotiation.  This  fact  was 
affirmed  and  admitted,  and  was  the  chief 
ground  on  which  British  Commissioners  reluc- 
tantly abandoned  their  claim."* 

Had  the  Ohio  River  been  the  boundary,  with 
the  British  in  possession  of  the  territory  now 
covered  by  the  states  of  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois, 
Michigan  and  Wisconsin,  the  struggling  new 
nation  would  have  been  handicapped,  and  the 


104  DECISIVE  DATES 

United  States  have  met  a  different  fate.  Such 
would  have  been  the  case  had  it  not  been  for 
the  effort  of  George  Rogers  Clark,  who  captured 
Fort  Gage  at  Kaskaskia,  July  4,  1778. 


NOTES  AND  EXPLANATIONS 

Page  98        *  Clark's  Memoirs. 
f  Clark's  Memoirs. 

Page  100       *  Clark's  Memoirs. 

f  It  is  now  generally  understood  that  the  ' '  Fort 
Gage"  where  Clark  "captured  the  Governor  Mr. 
Rocheblave"  was  not  the  so-called  Fort  Gage  which 
stood  "on  the  summit  of  a  high  rock  opposite  the 
village  (Kaskaskia)"  whose  earth  works  are  yet  to 
be  seen.  This  Fort  Gage  burned  in  1766  and  there 
is  no  record  that  it  was  ever  re-built. 

The  "Fort  Gage"  Clark  did  capture  was  the 
"stone  house  of  the  Jesuits"  in  Kaskaskia  called 
Fort  Gage  in  honor  of  General  Thomas  Gage.  See 
Appendix  Illinois  Hist.  Collections,  Vol.  I. 

Page  103       *  Burnett's  Notes  on  the  Northwest  Territory, 
p.  77. 


INTERIM 

1778-1818 

ILLINOIS  A  COUNTY  OF  VIRGINIA 


THE  INDIANA  TERRITORY 


THE  TERRITORY  OF  ILLINOIS 


THE  FORT  DEARBORN  MASSACRE 


INTERIM— 1778-1818. 

AFTER  Clark's  conquest  of  the  Illinois 
Country,  its  future  government  became  a 
matter  of  anxiety  to  him.  In  his  mem- 
oirs he  says:  "I  inquired  particularly  into  the 
manner  the  people  had  been  governed  formerly, 
and  much  to  my  satisfaction,  I  found  that  it  had 
been  generally  as  severe  as  under  the  Militia  law. 
I  was  determined  to  make  an  advantage  of  it, 
and  took  every  step  in  my  power  to  cause  the 
people  to  feel  the  blessings  enjoyed  by  an 
American  citizen."* 

To  this  end,  he  caused  a  "  court  of  civil  juris- 
diction to  be  established  at  Cahokia,  elected  by 
the  people."  f  The  date  of  the  earliest  paper 
which  has  been  preserved  issuing  from  the 
court  at  Cahokia,  is  October  29,  1778.  The  last 
direct  petition  to  Clark  that  exists  is  dated 
August  27,  1778.  Therefore,  it  must  be  con- 
cluded that  the  courts  were  established,  between 
the  last  of  August  and  the  last  of  October, 
1778,  and  the  first  election  in  Illinois  was  held 
sometime  during  the  Fall  of  1778. 

Clark  soon  discovered  this  plan  enabled  him 
to  support,  from  their  own  choice,   almost  a 
107 


108  DECISIVE  DATES 

supreme  authority  over  the  people.  In  proof 
that  this  government  was  a  good  one,  he  further 
records  the  fact  that  "there  was  an  appeal  to 
myself  in  certain  cases,  and  I  believe  that  no 
people  ever  had  their  business  done  more  to 
their  satisfaction  than  they  had  through  the 
means  of  these  regulations."* 

Before  the  beginning  of  the  new  year,  the 
legislature  of  Virginia  had  passed  a  bill  provid- 
ing for  the  government  of  this  new  country 
which  was  claimed  as  the  Illinois  County  of  Vir- 
ginia, naming  the  county  lieutenant  as  chief 
executive  officer.  Governor  Patrick  Henry 
commissioned  John  Todd  to  this  office. 

Todd  reached  the  Illinois  County  in  May  1779. 
He  found  many  difficult  problems  to  solve. 
There  were  the  two  distinct  races  meeting  at 
these  towns,  which  by  reason  of  inherited  ideas 
of  religion,  government  and  social  life  largely 
differing,  were  far  from  easy  to  merge  into  the 
one  people  with  the  same  ideals  and  desires. 
The  French  were  Roman  Catholics ;  the  Ameri- 
can frontiersman  was,  or  his  fathers  had  been, 
Protestants,  and  the  Calvinistic  and  English- 
Catholic  blood  in  their  veins  flowed  hot  and 
aggressive.  The  French  was  friendly  to  the 
Indian;  these  new  people  hated  the  Indians 
under  all  conditions.  The  French  depended 


ILLINOIS  A  COUNTY  OF  VIRGINIA  109 

upon  the  law  and  respected  it;  the  Americans 
were  a  law  unto  themselves.  The  government 
of  Virginia  had  neither  the  interest  in  the  new 
territory  nor  was  there  money  to  spare  to  sup- 
port the  soldiers  in  the  County  of  Illinois.  The 
soldiers  lacked  the  true  idea  of  the  rights  of 
property  and  imposed  upon  the  Frenchmen.* 

Again,  the  land  was  fertile  and  there  was  a 
threatened  rush  of  settlers  to  pre-empt  it, 
endangering  to  the  Illinois  county  the  fate  of 
Kentucky  with  land  speculation,  law-suits,  and 
anarchy.  Another  source  of  anxiety  was  the 
worthlessness  of  the  paper  money  in  circulation. 

All  these  combined  to  place  the  man  who  was 
at  the  head  of  the  civil  government  in  a  position 
to  be  unconditionally  blamed.  Matters  grew 
constantly  worse,  and  Todd  begged  to  be  per- 
mitted to  resign  as  early  as  the  middle  of  August, 
but  little  more  than  five  months  after  he  came 
as  county  lieutenant  to  the  Illinois  County.  He 
did  not  receive  the  desired  permission  at  that 
time,  but  did  leave  the  Illinois  County  in  No- 
vember. How  long  after  that  he  remained  in 
the  official  position  of  county  lietuenant,  is  not 
definitely  known.  He  left  Richard  Winston, 
his  deputy,  during  his  ablence. 

One  of  the  last  official  acts  of  Todd  was  to 
turn  the  government  over  to  the  military,  with 


110 


DECISIVE  DATES 


the  result  of  suffering  on  the  part  of  the  inhabi- 
tants that  drove  many  families  to  emigrate  to 
the  other  side  of  the  Mississippi  River. 

Spite  of  all  adverse  conditions,  the  Virginians 
held  the  territory  northwest  of  the  Ohio  for 
almost  four  years.  This  Northwest  Territory 
comprised  what  now  are  the  states  of  Ohio, 
Indiana,  Illinois,  Michigan  and  Wisconsin. 
Then  came  the  readjustment  at  the  end  of  the 
Revolutionary  War. 

Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  claimed  the 
northern  part  of  the  Northwest  Territory,  upon 
the  chartered  state  rights.  New  York  claimed 
the  territory  because  of  the  cession  made  by  the 
Iroquois  Indians,  while  Virginia  claimed  it  be- 
cause of  Clark's  conquest.  These  conflicting 
claims  caused  much  dispute  upon  the  part  of  the 
states.  Maryland,  in  particular,  refused  to 
agree  to  the  Articles  of  Confederation  until  these 
states  abandoned  all  claims  to  special  owner- 
ship to  the  Northwest  Territory,  and  it  was 
made  a  part  of  the  general  government.  The 
plea  was  that  all  had  fought,  first  France,  then 
England,  and  that  all  should  have  that  terri- 
tory. This  resulted  in  all  the  states  relinquish- 
ing their  rights.  After  all  due  cessions  were 
made,  Congress  passed  the  ordinance  of  1787, 
providing  for  the  government  of  this  territory. 


Courtesy  of  the  Illinois  State  Historical  Society. 

GEN.  ARTHUR  ST.  CLA1R. 


THE  INDIANA  TERRITORY  111 

The  seat  of  government  was  at  Marietta,  Ohio. 
Arthur  St.  Clair  was  the  governor  of  the  territory. 

In  1801,  the  Ohio  territory  was  formed,  and 
two  years  later  admitted  as  a  state.  The  re- 
maining territory  was  known  as  Indiana  terri- 
tory, and  for  nine  years  the  name  of  Illinois  was 
lost,  Gen.  Harrison  was  governor  of  Indiana 
territory,  and  Vincennes  was  its  capital.  In 
1809,  a  further  division  was  made,  forming  the 
Illinois  territory.  Its  seat  of  government  was 
at  Kaskaskia,  and  Ninian  Edwards  was  ap- 
pointed the  first  governor  of  Illinois  territory. 
Illinois  territory  was  made  a  state  in  1818. 

At  the  close  of  the  Seven  Years  War,  the  king 
of  France  surrendered  all  land  in  the  Mississippi 
valley  east  of  the  river  to  Great  Britian,  and 
west  of  the  river  he  ceded  to  Spain.  This  terri- 
tory west  of  the  river  belonging  to  Spain,  had 
St.  Louis  as  its  capital.  It  was  from  this 
point  that  an  invasion  of  Illinois  was  made  by 
Spanish  soldiers  in  1781.  The  company  con- 
sisted of  thirty  Spaniards,  thirty-five  French- 
men and  sixty  Indians.  Their  objective  point 
was  the  nearest  fort  which  yet  floated  the  flag  of 
England.  This  was  old  fort  St.  Joseph  in 
southern  Michigan.  The  only  possible  motive 
for  this  expedition  seems  to  have  been  the 
hatred  of  the  Spanish  for  the  English.  This  was 


112  DECISIVE  DATES 

the  echo  of  the  trouble  in  the  old  world  between 
these  two,  at  that  time,  great  European  powers, 
who  were  then  at  war  with  each  other.  The 
march  was  started  in  mid-winter. 

The  men  dared  not  cross  the  great  prairies  at 
that  time  because  of  the  extreme  cold  weather, 
so  their  line  of  travel  was  along  the  streams  as 
much  as  possible. 

It  is  believed  they  left  the  state  where  Danville 
now  is  located,  going  thence  in  a  northerly 
direction  to  South  Bend,  Indiana.  Don  Eu- 
genio  Pourre  was  in  command  of  this  strange 
army.  They  surprised  the  fort  and  captured 
it  without  trouble,  hauled  down  the  flag  of 
England  and  hoisted  the  flag  of  Spain,  after 
which  they  triumphantly  returned  to  St.  Louis 
to  report  their  act  to  Spain.  It  took  a  year 
to  get  the  report  to  Spain  and  no  action  was 
ever  taken.  If  Spain  had  a  plan  of  increasing 
possessions  in  the  New  World  and  Illinois  was 
at  that  time  in  danger  of  becoming  a  part  of 
their  new  possessions,  it  is  nowhere  recorded. 

The  early  years  of  the  nineteenth  century 
were  marked  by  increased  trouble  with  the 
Indians  in  the  border  settlements  of  Illinois. 
Beside  their  growing  discontent  because  of  the 
fact  which  every  year  became  more  and  more 
apparent  that  the  white  man  was  taking  pos- 


!S  BU'ICINC  OCCUPIES  THE  SI^E  OF  Q 
n^r"  J EXTEND!: 

IGRDSS 


: 

T.87I. 

THE  SUGGESTION  OF  THE  CH  C,:C  H:STD 
SOCIETY  THiS  TABLET  WAS  ERtCTZC  BY 

ov.isio.  W.M.H:Y 


Courtesy  of  Chicago  Historical  Society 

FORT  DEARBORN  MASSACRE   (TABLET) 


THE  TERRITORY  OF  ILLINOIS  113 

session  of  their  hunting  grounds  and  driving 
them  ever  further  and  further  away,  there  was 
the  ever  present  influence  of  the  English,  who 
remained  in  the  country,  and  by  every  means, 
kept  the  flame  of  hatred  of  the  Americans  burn- 
ing in  the  Indians'  hearts. 

The  settlements  of  white  men,  it  must  be 
remembered  were  along  the  Mississippi  River, 
below  what  is  now  Alton  and  along  the  Ohio 
River. 

Northern  Illinois,  including  Chicago,  was  yet 
a  wilderness,  the  hunting  grounds  of  the 
Pottawatomie  with  the  Sacs  and  Foxes  and 
Winnebagoes  in  the  northwest.  Mention  has 
been  made  of  Father  Allouez  having  come  into 
the  Illinois  Country  landing  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Chicago  River  at  a  date  even  previous  to  the 
coming  of  Marquette  and  Joliet,  but  that  is  only 
a  tradition.  A  French  trading  post  mission  and 
fort  is  supposed  to  have  been  located  there  be- 
fore 1700.  This  trading  post  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Chicago  River  was  a  favorite  one  of  the  Indians, 
and,  in  the  first  years  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
the  United  States  built  a  fort  on  the  south  side 
of  the  Chicago  River  near  its  mouth  which  they 
called  Fort  Dearborn.* 

In  July,  1812,  the  garrison  of  this  fort  was 
composed  of  seventy-four  men  commanded  by 

(8) 


114  DECISIVE  DATES 

Captain  Nathan  Heald.  During  the  spring  the 
Indians  had  shown  such  great  hostilities  that, 
fearing  it  would  be  impossible  to  hold  the  fort  in 
case  of  an  attack,  Gen.  William  Hull,  who  was 
in  command  at  Detroit,  gave  orders  for  it  to  be 
evacuated  and  the  property  to  be  distributed 
among  the  Indians  as  a  peace  offering. 

The  order  was  brought  to  Fort  Dearborn 'by 
a  friendly  Pottawatomie  chief  who  knew  of  the 
hostile  plan  of  the  Indians,  and  strongly  urged 
that  the  order  be  disregarded;  or  that,  if  the 
fort  be  evacuated,  it  be  done  at  once  before  the 
Indians  had  any  knowledge  of  its  being  con- 
templated. 

But  Capt.  Heald,  against  the  judgment,  of  all 
the  other  officers,  announced  to  the  neighboring 
tribes  his  intention  of  abandoning  the  fort  and 
dividing  the  goods  among  the  Indians.  To  this 
end  he  invited  a  council  which  assembled  on 
August  14.  The  day  before  the  council  met, 
an  uncle  of  Mrs.  Heald  arrived  from  Fort 
Wayne  with  thirty  friendly  Miami  Indians  to 
escort  the  garrison  at  Fort  Dearborn  to  this 
fort  in  Indiana.  On  the  day  of  the  council,  the 
supplies  of  broadcloth,  calico  and  paints,  with 
some  other  less  valuable  materials,  were  dis- 
tributed among  the  Indians. 


FORT  DEARBORN  MASSACRE  115 

But  the  muskets,  which  the  savages  coveted, 
were  destroyed  and  the  casks  of  liquor  which 
they  desired  even  more,  had  been  rolled  to  the 
bank  of  the  river  and  the  contents  poured  into 
the  stream. 

The  Indians  found  this  evidence  of  what 
they  considered  bad  faith  on  the  part  of 
the  white  men,  their  passion  was  aroused  and 
when  the  next  day  Captain  Heald  and  his  gar- 
rison marched  out,  they  walked  into  the  jaws 
of  death. 

Five  hundred  Indians  offered  to  be  their 
escort,  and  when  the  garrison  marched  out, 
these  five  hundred  Indians  brought  up  the 
rear. 

They  had  proceeded  but  little  more  than  a 
mile  along  the  beach  with  the  lake  on  their  left, 
and  a  high  sand  bank  on  their  right,  when  it 
was  discovered  that  the  Indians  were  prepared 
to  attack  them  from  behind  the  bank. 

Marching  up  to  the  top  of  the  bank  with  his 
company,  Capt.  Heald  had  one  round  fired  and 
charged  upon  the  Indians  who  gave  way  in 
front  and  joined  those  in  the  rear,  where  they 
took  possession  of  all  the  horses,  baggage  and 
provisions.  The  white  men  were  then  with- 
drawn to  a  slight  elevation  in  the  prairie  out 
of  shot  of  the  bank  or  other  cover.  Here  they 


116  DECISIVE  DATES 

paused,  and  when  the  Indians  made  signs, 
Capt.  Heald  advanced  alone. 

After  a  few  moments  conversation  with  one 
of  the  Pottawatomie  chiefs,  Capt.  Heald  con- 
cluded the  most  prudent  thing  would  be  to 
surrender,  trusting  to  the  promise  of  the  Indians 
to  spare  the  lives  of  all  the  prisoners. 

These  promises  proved  of  little  worth,  for  in 
the  massacre  that  followed  the  entire  garrison, 
men,  women  and  children  were  all  either 
killed  or  taken  into  a  captivity  which  was 
worse  than  death. 

This  massacre  at  Fort  Dearborn  occurred 
less  than  two  months  after  the  war  of  1812  had 
been  declared. 

The  news  of  the  massacre  determined  Gov. 
Edwards  to  take  out  a  company  of  men  from 
Camp  Russell,  which  had  been  hastily  organized 
by  him  near  Edwards ville,  with  the  avowed 
purpose  of  dispersing  the  Indians  and  destroy- 
ing their  villages  on  the  Wabash  and  Illinois 
rivers. 

The  manner  of  executing  this  plan  was 
little  more  to  be  commended  than  that  of  the 
Pottawatomies  at  Fort  Dearborn,  for,  in  too 
many  cases,  the  peaceable,  friendly  Indians 
were  killed  and  their  homes  destroyed  without 
other  reason  than  that  of  anger  at  the  race. 


MONUMENT  TO  COMMEMORATE  THE  FORT  DEARBORN   MASSACRE 


FORT  DEARBORN  MASSACRE  117 

The.  trading  post  at  LaPe  was  one  instance. 
It  was  a  French  village,  upon  the  site  of  which  the 
present  city  of  Peoria  is  built.  Its  people  were  in 
noway  hostile.  Yet  the  traders,  voyageurs,  Indi- 
ans and  even  the  agent  who  was  a  loyal  and 
confidential  officer  of  the  government,  were  all 
compelled  to  watch  their  village  as  it  was  burn- 
ing, and  then  to  march  many  miles  from  their 
homes,  and  were  there  left  to  wander  back  to 
what  might  remain  of  their  town,  as  best 
they  could. 

The  two  years  following  were  not  satisfactory 
or  favorable  to  the  efforts  of  the  Illinois  soldiers 
to  subdue  the  Indians.  At  the  close  of  this 
period  the  Indians  were  in  complete  and  defiant 
possession  of  the  upper  Illinois  Country.  And 
although  the  treaty  of  peace  with  Great 
Britain  was  signed  December  24,  1814,  no 
formal  treaty  with  the  Indians  was  made  until 
a  year  from  the  following  July.  This  was  two 
years  after  the  massacre  of  Fort  Dearborn. 

NOTES  AND  EXPLANATIONS 

The  matter  for  this  portion  of  Illinois  history 
should  be  credited  to  C.  W.  Alvord  in  his  contri- 
butions to  the  Illinois  State  Hist.  Library. 
Page  107       *Clarks  Memoirs  in  Conquest  of  the  Northwest. 
•^Collections  of  Illinois  Historical  Library,  Vol. 
I  ,  Cahokia  Records,  p.  xivii. 
Page  113      *See  Moses  Historical  and  Statistical. 


x^  I   -v -.-i— 

^. — . — i — — i  Kt~o.ii 


MAP  SHOWING  EXTENSION  OF  NORTHERN   BOUNDARY  OF  ILLINOIS 


DATE  IV.    1818 
EXTENSION  OF  NORTHERN  BOUNDARY. 


DATE  IV.     1818. 

THE  ordinance  of  1787  provided  for  the 
government  of  the  territory  lying  north 
and  west  of  the  Ohio  River,  and  also  for 
its  future  division  into  states.  It  distinctly 
stated  that  this  territory  should  be  divided 
into  not  less  than  three  nor  more  than  five 
states.  Furthermore,  that  the  southern  bound- 
ary of  the  two  possible  northern  states  should 
be  "an  east  and  west  line  drawn  through  the 
southern  bend  or  extreme  of  Lake  Michigan." 

Both  Ohio  and  Indiana  were  admitted  into 
the  Union  with  the  prescribed  forty  degrees 
and  thirty-nine  minutes  north  latitude  for 
northern  boundary.  The  Illinois  territory  was 
thus  bounded  on  the  north. 

But  when  the  time  came  to  admit  the  state 
into  the  Union,  Nathaniel  Pope,  who  was  the 
delegate  for  the  Illinois  Territory,  asked  to 
amend  the  bill  so  that  the  northern  boundary 
of  the  new  state  should  be  42°  30'.  The 
amendment  was  adopted  and  the  state  admitted 
with  the  northern  boundary  42°  30',  thus 
making  the  year  1818  a  Decisive  Date,  not 
because  of  the  birth  of  the  commonwealth,  but 

121 


122  DECISIVE  DATES 

t 
because  of  the  value  to  the  state  and  the  nation 

of  this  extension  of  northern  boundary.  A 
"line  drawn  east  and  west  from  the  southern 
bend  or  extreme  of  Lake  Michigan"  as  the 
northern  boundary,  would  have  deprived  Illi- 
nois of  the  lake  coast  line,  which  has  proved  of 
such  great  value  to  the  state  and  to  the  nation. 

At  the  time  of  making  the  ordinance,  and 
indeed  at  the  date  of  the  admission  of  the  state 
into  the  Union,  the  need  of  this  coast-line  was 
not  as  apparent  as  it  later  became.  At  that 
time,  Illinois  north  of  the  lower  third  of  the 
state,  was  a  wilderness,  The  early  settlers  all 
came  to  the  southern  part  of  the  state.  The 
towns  on  the  Ohio  River  and  in  the  American 
Bottoms  had  no  use  for  any  means  of  transit 
other  than  the  rivers. 

But  had  the  commerce  of  the  state  in  after 
years  been  altogether  drawn  down  the  Mis- 
sissippi River,  the  resources  of  Illinois  would  have 
been  limited  and  the  nation  been  the  poorer. 
Without  this  coast-line  there  would  not  have 
been  the  means  of  intercourse  with  the  East, 
which  modified  the  sentiments  of  the  state, 
otherwise  under  the  strong  influence  of  interest 
allied  to  the  southern  states.  Without  this 
extension  of  territory,  the  fifty-mile  strip  from 
which  fourteen  counties  were  formed,  would 


Courtesy  of  the  Missouri  State  Historical  Society. 
NATHANIEL  POPE. 


EXTENSION  OF  NORTHERN  BOUNDARY  123 

have  been  lost  to  the  state.  These,  in  the 
middle  of  the  nineteenth  century,  by  their  votes 
saved  Illinois  to  the  Union  and  made  it  possible 
for  Abraham  Lincoln  to  be  made  president. 

The  East  and  West  were,  through  this  fore- 
sight of  Judge  Pope,  bound  together  by  every 
interest  of  moral  standards  and  commercial 
gain,  because  of  which  the  Union  could  not  be 
dissolved.  Without  this  extension  of  territory, 
Chicago  would  have  been  lost  to  Illinois;  and 
it  is  reasonable  to  declare  as  well,  that  Chicago 
would  have  been  lost  to  the  world,  because  with- 
out the  facilities  of  growth  given  by  the  Illinois 
and  Michigan  canal,  and  the  Illinois  Central 
railroad,  Chicago  would  never  have  become  the 
great  center  of  commercial  enterprise  it  has 
been  and  now  is. 

There  were  attempts  made  by  the  governor 
of  Wisconsin  territory  to  restore  the  northern 
boundary  of  Illinois  to  the  one  fixed  by  the 
Ordinance  of  1787.  James  D.  Doty,  in  1842, 
urged  the  inhabitants  of  that  northern  strip 
which  is  above  the  original  42°  39',  to  assert 
their  independence  in  government,  and  those 
living  in  the  western  and  central  part  of  this 
section  were  very  much  in  favor  of  being  set 
aside  into  the  territory  of  Wisconsin.  Chicago, 
however,  and  surrounding  country,  absolutely 


124  DECISIVE  DATES 

refused  to  agree  to  the  plan,  even  in  spite  of  the 
promise  of  having  a  United  States  senator 
selected  from  the  then  growing  city.  Later 
in  the  same  year  there  was  a  bill  before  the 
Legislative  Council  of  Wisconsin  Territory,  to 
refer  the  question  of  making  Wisconsin  a  state, 
to  the  popular  vote  of  the  people  at  the  next 
election,  and  to  invite  the  people  of  the  disputed 
strip  of  land  to  hold  an  election  at  the  same  time, 
but  the  bill  did  not  pass. 

Soon  after  this,  Governor  Doty  officially 
notified  Governor  Carlin  (of  Illinois)  that  the 
fourteen  northern  counties  of  the  state  of  Illi- 
nois were  not  within  the  constitutional  bound- 
aries of  that  state.  Gov.  Carlin  made  no  answer 
whatever.  Gov.  Doty  issued  proclamations 
on  his  own  responsibility,  on  two  occasions 
afterward,  for  all  the  people  "within  the  ancient 
limits  of  Wisconsin"  to  vote  on  the  subject  of 
state  government.  Little  attention  was  given 
this  proclamation.  The  Wisconsin  (territory) 
legislature  of  1843-4  sent  a  communication  to 
Congress  on  the  subject,  and  it  met  the  same 
fate,  no  attention  being  accorded  it. 

Five  years  later,  Wisconsin  was  made  a  state, 
with  southern  boundary  fixed  at  42°  31',  which 
ended  the  matter. 


INTERIM. 

1818-1824. 

PIONEER  LIFE 


INTERIM— 1818-1824. 

THE  earlier  settlers  of  Illinois  were  mostly 
from  Virginia  and  Kentucky,  coming  in 
flat  boats  down  the  Ohio  River  to  the 
Mississippi,  thence  up  stream  to  their  destina- 
tion. A  few  came  over  land ;  in  which  case 
they  followed  Indian  trails  or  crossed  the 
unbroken  prairie  in  covered  wagons  generally 
drawn  by  oxen.  They  left  luxuries  and  even 
comforts  behind  them.  Indeed,  a  fire  built 
along  the  route  where  they  camped  at  night 
was  often  denied  for  fear  it  would  attract  the 
hostilities  of  the  possibly  skulking  Indian. 

Generally  it  was  the  fertile  land  of  the  Ameri- 
can bottoms  which  attracted  the  eager  settlers 
into  the  new  country.  Most  settlements  were 
made  in  this  locality  extending  into  what  is 
now  Madison,  Pope,  Alexander  and  Gallatin 
counties.  The  Illinois  Salines  attracted  settle- 
ments. The  changing  of  the  capital  from 
Kaskaskia  to  Vandalia  was  the  reason  for  a 
limited  settlement  being  made  in  another 
direction.  Yet  the  central  part  of  the  state 
was  settled  but  slowly  while  northern  Illinois 
was  not  opened  to  settlement  for  ten  years 
after  it  had  become  a  state. 

127 


128  DECISIVE  DATES 

In  a  survey  of  the  Northwest  made  by  Maj. 
Stephen  H.  Long,  United  States  topographical 
engineer,  in  1817,  Fort  Clark  at  Peoria  was  found 
to  have  been  but  just  occupied  by  United  States 
troops,  while  Fort  Dearborn  had  been  rebuilt  but 
the  year  previous,  it  having  been  unoccupied 
since  its  destruction  and  the  massacre  in  1812. 

About  the  year  1816  the  American  Fur 
Company  established  posts  for  trading  with 
the  Indians ;  one  at  the  mouth  of  Bureau  Creek 
on  the  south  side  of  the  river;  one  three  miles 
below  Peoria,  on  the  west  side,  and  six  to  ten 
in  the  interior  between  the  Illinois  and  Wabash ; 
and  three  or  four  on  Rock  River.  Save  the 
agents  at  these  posts  there  were  no  white  people 
between  the  Illinois  and  the  Wabash  rivers  until 
in  the  early  thirties.  These  posts  remained  in 
the  heart  of  the  Indian  country  quite  unprotect- 
ed, yet  with  perfect  safety. 

An  account  given  by  one  explorer  of  central 
Illinois  the  year  following  its  admittance  into 
the  Union  gives  a  good  idea  of  conditions  at 
that  time.*  Entering  Illinois  where  Danville 
now  is,  he  found  a  small  settlement  near  by  at 
the  salt  works.  He  made  a  short  stay  here 
with  some  friends  and  thence  in  a  northwest 
course,  he  started  to  strike  the  Illinois  River. 
His  map  and  compass  were  his  only  guide. 


PIONEER  LIFE  129 

Wherever  night  found  him,  he  stopped,  struck 
a  fire  with  his  flint,  steel  and  punk,  ate  the 
jerked  venison  he  carried  with  him,  and  wrap- 
ping his  blanket  around  him,  he  took  the  earth 
for  his  bed  and  slept  soundly. 

Before  many  days'  travel  across  the  boundless 
prairie,  his  horse  became  very  cowardly;  he 
would  scarcely  crop  the  grass,  would  keep  close 
to  his  master,  sleeping  by  his  side  at  night, 
never  leaving  him.  Sometimes  he  struck  an 
Indian  trail,  but  his  journey  generally  led  him 
through  high  grass  and  bushes,  or  along  the 
timber  belts.  Occasionally  he  met  a  party  of 
Indians  with  whom  he  could  converse  only  in 
signs.  It  is  not  surprising  that  both  horse  and 
rider  should  grow  lonely,  suspicious  and  fearful. 

He  did  not  see  a  white  man  from  the  time  he 
left  the  salt  works  near  Danville  until  he 
reached  Dillon's  Grove  in  Tazewell  County. 
Under  such  conditions  he  was  in  no  mood  to 
realize  the  true  value  of  a  prairie  farm.  Added 
to  the  apparent  lack  of  fuel  because  of  the  de- 
ficiency of  timber,  (the  coal  fields  were  unsus- 
pected, although  coal  was  discovered  as  early 
as  by  LaSalle  in  his  first  coming) ,  there  was  an 
idea  that  the  prairie  was  uninhabitable  in  the 
winter,  it  being  so  cold  and  bleak.  The  deer, 
the  wolf,  and  the  Indian  held  a  divided  empire. 

(9) 


130  DECISIVE  DATES 

All  local  histories  tell  the  same  story  of  pioneer 
life. 

The  first  settlements  were  made  along  the 
edge  of  the  best  timber.  The  wagon  in  which 
the  journey  into  the  interior  was  made  was 
used  for  shelter,  even  after  the  settler's  claim 
was  located,  until  logs  could  be  cut  to  build  the 
cabin.  These  cabins  had  no  glass  in  the  win- 
dows, no  iron  hinges  nor  locks  on  the  doors 
and  no  nails  used  in  building  them ;  the  frames 
were  put  together  with  pegs  made  of  hardwood. 
The  floors  were  made  of  split  logs  hewn  on  the 
split  side  and  spotted  onto  the  sleepers  on  the 
round  side.  These  floors  were  called  puncheons. 
The  chimney  was  built  on  the  outside  at  the 
end  of  the  cabin. 

The  habits  and  manners  of  these  early  settlers 
were  plain,  simple  and  unostentatious.  They 
raised  their  corn,  which  they  broke  in  a  mortar 
and  ground  in  a  hand  mill.  The  bread  made 
from  this  corn  meal  was  baked  on  a  smooth 
board  two  feet  long  and  eight  inches  wide.  It 
was  baked  by  putting  the  board  in  front  of  the 
fire  until  one  side  was  brown  when  the  cake  was 
turned  to  bake  on  the  other  side.  This  board 
was  always  carried  as  they  traveled  from  place 
to  place,  to  use  on  the  way  and  so  was  called 
the  "journey  board"  which  name  became  cor- 


PIONEER  LIFE  131 

rupted  into  "Johnny  board"  and  the  corn  cake 
thus  baked  became  "Johnny  cake." 

They  kept  a  never-failing  supply  of  bacon, 
and  bear  and  deer  meat,  both  fresh  and  dried, 
with  turkey  and  other  wild  game  in  season. 
Vegetables  grew  luxuriantly  and  wild  fruit  was 
generally  to  be  had  for  the  taking.  They  used 
pewter  dishes  and  iron  knives.  Each  woman 
took  particular  pride  in  the  art  of  cooking  and 
no  greater  praise  was  desired  or  could  be  given 
than  to  be  known  as  the  best  cook  in  the 
neighborhood. 

They  raised  flax  and  their  sheep  furnished 
them  with  wool.  The  women  spun  the  flax 
on  the  "little  wheel"  and  the  wool  on  the  "big 
wheel;"  colored  the  thread  with  the  bark  of 
trees  or  other  primitive  dye  stuff,  and  wove  it 
into  cloth  on  the  family  loom.  This  homespun 
cloth  was  fashioned  into  garments  sewed  by 
hand,  while  the  spun  wool  was  twisted  into 
yarn  and  knit  into  stockings  or  mittens.  The 
outside  garments  were  made  of  the  dressed 
skins  of  the  deer  or  fox,  while  those  of  the  buf- 
falo and  elk  gave  material  for  head  covering. 

Their  amusements  were  "shucking  bees," 
horse  races  and  the  social  gatherings  often  oc- 
casioned by  "changing  work"  in  house  or  barn 
raising. 


132  DECISIVE  DATES 

The  prairie  sod  had  but  to  be  turned  and  the 
crop  put  in.  This  turning  of  the  virgin  sod 
was  done  by  an  ox  team  of  six  to  ten  yoke  with 
a  plow  of  rude  construction.  The  first  crop 
was  mostly  corn.  This  was  planted  by  cutting 
a  gash  in  the  inverted  sod  with  an  axe,  dropping 
the  corn  and  covering  it  by  another  blow*  along- 
side the  first.  After  the  first  crop,  the  kind 
soil  produced  any  crop  suitable  to  the  climate. 

Life  was  no  idle  dream.  The  market  and 
mill  were  at  long  distances,  the  new-comer 
required  help  in  raising  his  cabin,  the  prairie- 
fires  called  for  fighting  each  year,  and  this  to- 
gether with  the  planting  and  harvesting  which 
must  too  often  be  done  while  the  pioneer,  to- 
gether with  his  entire  family,  was  suffering  the 
pest  of  a  new  country — the  fever  and  ague,  and 
other  malarial  diseases. 

The  yearly  burning  of  the  heavy  grass  of  the 
prairie  was  a  source  of  great  annoyance  and 
oftentimes  of  heavy  loss.  From  the  time  of  the 
first  frost  until  after  the  surrounding  prairie 
was  all  burned  over,  if  not  all  burnt,  or  until 
the  green  grass  in  the  spring  had  grown  high 
enough  to  prevent  the  rapid  spread  of  the  fire, 
a  continual  watch  must  be  kept. 

Imagine  the  settler  with  his  comfortable 
house,  his  corn,  wheat,  oats  and  fodder  stored 


PIONEER  LIFE  133 

for  stock,  surrounded  by  a  sea  of  standing  grass, 
dry  as  tinder  stretching  away  for  miles  in  every 
direction  over  which  the  wild  prairie  wind 
howls  constantly,  in  terror  lest  a  spark  from 
somewhere  will  send  a  sea  of  fire  all  about  him ! 
In  character,  these  pioneers  were  hardy 
backwoodsmen,  brave,  hospitable,  generous,  and 
courageous,  whose  indomitable  will  was  equaled 
only  by  their  rugged  integrity,  which  regarded 
dishonesty  and  cowardice  equally  contemptible 
offences. 

NOTES  AND  EXPLANATIONS 

Page  128      *  See  Hist.   LaSalle  County. 


DATE  5.     1824 

DEFEAT  OF  CONVENTION   TO   AMEND 
CONSTITUTION 


Courtesy  of  the  Illinois  State  Historical  Society. 
GOV.  EDWARD  COLES. 


DATE  5.     1824 

WHEN  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  was  adopted  there  was  a  dif- 
ference of  opinion  concerning  it.  Two 
political  parties  arose.  One  party  interpreted 
the  Constitution  in  one  way  and  the  other 
party  interpreted  it  in  another  way.  Such 
was  the  case  until  the  fierce  struggle  of  the 
Civil  War  decided  the  controversy.  These 
diverse  interpretations  involved  both  the  prin- 
ciple whether  each  state  had  sovereign  rights 
to  self-government  in  every  particular  or 
whether  they  should  be  limited  in  such  rights  by 
the  general  government,  and  the  practice  of 
the  institution  of  slavery. 

Whether  or  not  the  principle  of  Sovereign 
States'  Rights  is  a  true  one,  each  man  must 
decide  for  himself,  and  each  state  up  to  1860 
had  to  solve  the  slavery  problem  for  itself. 
Illinois  was  no  exception.  From  the  time  in 
1620  when  the  first  shipload  of  slaves  from 
Africa  was  brought  to  Jamestown  and  was  the 
beginning  of  slavery  in  the  American  colonies, 
until  when,  in  1863,  by  proclamation  of  Presi- 
dent Lincoln,  and  later  by  the  amendment  of 

137 


138  DECISIVE  'DATES 

the  Constitution,  slavery  ceased  to  exist,  the 
slavery  question  was  a  vital  one  in  America. 

The  answer  given  the  question  in  Illinois 
differed  from  that  in  other  states  because  of 
conflicting  events  in  its  history.  Renault 
brought  African  slaves  to  the  French  settle- 
ments of  Illinois  in  1720  and  sold  them.  But 
neither  these  settlements  nor  many  of  the  de- 
scendents  of  these  settlers,  had  a  great  share 
in  shaping  the  .policies  or  determining  the 
institution  after  the  end  of  the  18th  century. 

Then  too,  many  of  the  slave  owners  in  the 
French  villages  moved  across  the  river  or  far 
down  the  river  at  the  time  of  the  surrender  of 
Fort  Chartres  to  the  British,  taking  their 
slaves  with  them. 

When  Virginia  ceded  all  claim  to  the  North- 
west territory,  it  was  with  the  proviso  that  the 
laws  and  customs  of  the  French  should  remain 
unchanged.  If  the  spirit  of  religious  intoler- 
ance of  the  time  is  remembered,  a  special  light 
is  thrown  upon  this  proviso  since  it  gave  the 
French  the  needed  protection  to  the  adherence 
to  their  religion.  Too  great  prominence  has 
always  been  given  to  the  protection  of  their 
institution  of  slavery  through  this  proviso. 

The  ordinance  of  1787  governed  the  North- 
west Territory  after  all  claim  had  been  ceded 


DEFEAT  OF  CONVENTION  139 

by  the  different  states.  By  this  ordinance 
slavery  or  involuntary  servitude  was  forever 
prohibited. 

Here  were  two  apparently  conflicting  ideas. 
Virginia  had  ceded  her  claim  on  condition  that 
the  institution  of  slavery  should  be  recognized, 
and  the  Government  had  announced  that 
slavery  should  cease  and  henceforth  be  for- 
bidden. The  two  ideas  were  at  last  reconciled 
by  an  agreement  that  those  slaves  who  belonged 
to  the  French  before  the  conquest  of  Clark 
should  remain  in  bondage,  but  that  their  chil- 
dren from  and  after  this  date  should  be  free. 

This  made  it  but  a  matter  of  time  and  strictly 
a  matter  of  locality  that  slavery  would  be 
tolerated  within  the  boundaries  of  the  Illinois 
Country.  This  agreement  made  the  problem 
more  easy  of  solution  in  that  portion  of  the 
territory  afterward  admitted  as  the  state  of 
Ohio,  than  that  part  remaining  as  Indiana  Ter- 
ritory, a  part  of  which  afterward  became 
Illinois. 

It  was  at  this  time,  after  the  division  of  the 
original  Northwest  Territory  that  an  effort  was 
made  to  repeal  or  modify  the  article  in  the 
ordinance  which  related  to  slavery,  but  without 
success.  Four  different  times  memorials  were 
sent  to  Congress  to  this  effect  without  any 


140  DECISIVE  DATES 

notice  being  taken  of  them  until  the  fourth  was 
reported  adversely.  This  ended  the  effort  to 
legalize  slavery  in  the  territory  afterward  be- 
coming the  state  of  Illinois. 

When  Illinois  became  a  state  in  1818,  the 
Constitution,  although  it  was  closely  a  copy  of 
the  constitutions  of  Virginia  and  Kentucky,  yet 
provided  that  "neither  slavery  nor  involuntary 
servitude  shall  hereafter  be  introduced  into 
this  state."  True,  there  was  a  clause  legalizing 
indenture  laws,  and  this  was  abused  in  many 
cases  but  it  never  meant  legal  slavery.  This 
struggle  for  legalized  compulsory  service  was 
by  no  means  the  direct  result  of  the  limited 
slave  ownership  of  the  French  colony  days,  nor 
should  it  be  ascribed  to  the  slave  owners  in 
the  old  French  Illinois.  It  came  from  a  dif- 
ferent source.  Salt-making  was  a  great  in- 
dustry of  Illinois.  Large  salt  works  were 
located  in  southern  Illinois.  At  these  salt 
works  near  Shawneetown  the  labor  was  done 
largely  by  negroes.  This  industry  was  in  a  great 
degree  responsible  for  the  agitation  on  the  part 
of  the  pro-slavery  advocates.* 

Up  to  the  time  that  Illinois  became  a  state 
these  salt  works  were  leased  by  individuals  who 
would  bring  their  slaves  from  Kentucky  and 
Tennessee  to  work  in  them.  When  the  state 


DEFEAT  OF  CONVENTION  141 

was  admitted  into  the  Union  the  Government 
turned  the  salt  works  over  to  state  authorities. 

The  first  Constitution  of  the  state,  however 
faulty,  yet  is  to  be  commended  in  that  it  con- 
tained this  provision  in  Article  6,  section  2 : 
"No  person  bound  to  labor  in  any  other  state 
shall  be  hired  for  labor  in  this  state,  excepting 
within  the  tract  reserved  for  the  salt  works 
near  Shawneetown,  nor  even  at  that  place  for 
a  longer  term  than  one  year  at  any  one  time, 
nor  shall  it  be  allowed  there  after  the  year  1825. 
Any  violation  of  this  article  shall  effect  the 
emancipation  of  such  person  from  his  obligation 
to  service." 

*Major  Willis  Hargrave  was  the  general  in- 
spector of  the  salt  works.  When  the  lease  of 
the  salt  works  company  was  about  to  expire 
they  knew  it  could  not  be  renewed  under  the 
Constitution.  The  only  thing  to  do  was  to 
change  the  Constitution.  Major  Hargrave  pro- 
ceeded to  work  for  this.  To  this  end  he  used 
his  extended  influence  in  the  state  to  elect 
members  to  the  third  general  assembly  who 
would  favor  the  amendment  to  the  Consti- 
tution. 

The  slavery  question  was  the  all-absorbing 
subject  of  discussion  and  debate  throughout  the 
United  States,  and  as  each  state  sought  ad- 


142  DECISIVE  DATES 

mittance  it  was  closely  watched,  lest  on  the 
one  hand,  it  be  lost  by  the  pro-slavery  advocates 
or  on  the  other  that  it  make  possible  the  exten- 
sion of  the  institution  so  bitterly  hated  and 
dreaded  by  the  anti-slavery  advocates.  By 
common  consent  the  slave  states  and  anti-slave 
states  alternated  in  being  admitted  into  the 
Union.  The  year  following  Illinois  coming  into 
the  Union  as  a  free  state,  Alabama  came  as  a 
slave  state.  Missouri  wanted  to  be  admitted, 
but  Congress  insisted  it  could  only  be  upon 
condition  of  giving  up  slavery,  which  she  did 
not  want  to  do.  Thus  matters  stood  when 
Congress  took  recess. 

It  was  at  this  time  of  intense  interest  that  the 
first  election  for  Congress  in  Illinois  under  the 
Constitution  took  place.  •  The  candidates  were 
two  promising  young  lawyers.  One  was  Daniel 
Pope  Cook  (a  nephew  of  Nathaniel  Pope)  of 
Kaskaskia,  and  the  other  John  McLean,  of 
Shawneetown.  In  personal  appearance  they 
differed  almost  as  much  as  in  political  ideas. 
Cook  was  small  of  stature  with  finely  cut 
features.  He  was  very  eloquent  and  made 
a  lasting  impression  upon  any  audience  before 
whom  he  spoke. 

Since  the  slavery  question  was  the  all-absorb- 
ing theme  at  that  time,  it  is  not  strange  that 


Courtesy  of  the  Illinois  State  Historical  Association. 

MORRIS  BIRKBECK. 


DEFEAT  OF  CONVENTION  143 

it  was  made  the  issue  and  that  each  young  man 
thinking  his  views  were  right,  although  holding 
opposite  notions,  was  anxious  to  hold  joint 
debates  in  each  county.*  The  result  of  this 
contest  was  the  election  of  McLean  by  a  majori- 
ty of  fourteen  votes.  The  following  campaign 
the  debates  were  repeated  and  Cook  won 
by  a  majority  of  633.  The  third  time  they 
made  the  race,  Cook  had  a  majority  of  876 
votes. 

This  first  was  the  campaign  of  1822  when  Ed- 
ward Coles  was  elected  the  second  governor  of 
Illinois  on  the  anti-slavery  ticket.  It  was  at  this 
same  election  that  Maj.  Hargrave's  efforts  to 
secure  a  state  legislature  favoring  an  amend- 
ment of  the  Constitution  had  succeeded.  The 
session  of  the  legislature  following  Gov.  Coles' 
inauguration,  after  much  debate,  passed  a 
resolution  to  call  a  convention  to  amend  the 
Constitution  of  Illinois  so  that  slavery  could  be 
legalized. 

The  eighteen  months  following  were  days 
marked  by  intense  feeling  and  strenuous  work. 
The  result  was  the  defeat  of  the  convention  by 
an  overwhelming  vote  of  the  people. 

Gov.  Coles  gave  his  salary  for  the  term, 
which  amounted  to  $4000.00,  in  this  campaign. 


144  DECISIVE  DATES 

Beside  this  he  made  untiring  effort  and  visited 
every  county  in  the  state. 

Thus  ended  the  effort  to  make  Illinois  a 
slave  state. 

The  defeat  of  the  convention  which  would 
have  amended  the  state  Constitution,  marked 
an  era  in  the  life  of  the  state  and  of  the  nation. 

NOTES  AND  EXPLANATIONS 

Page  140  *  See  Dr.  Berry  Pub.  No.  9  of  the  111.  Hist. 
Library,  pp.  259-273. 

Page  141  *  The  irony  of  events  is  shown  in  the  fact  that  the 
house  in  which  Maj.  Hargrave  lived,  near  Equality 
(still  standing),  was  in  the  next  generation  known 
to  be  one  of  the  stations  of  the  Underground  Rail- 
way, it  being  occupied  by  a  man  who  was  as  much 
of  an  Abolitionist  as  was  Hargrave  a  pro-slavery 
advocate. 

Page  143  *  These  debates  were  heard  by  a  man  who  after- 
ward heard  the  debates  between  Abraham  Lincoln 
and  Stephen  A.  Douglas  and  made  comparison 
between  them  which  was  little  to  the  disadvantage 
of  the  Cook-McLean  efforts. 


INTERIM 

1824-1858 

BLACK  HAWK  WAR 


ANTI-SLAVERY  INFLUENCES  IN  ILLINOIS 


(10) 


Courtesy  of  the  Illinois  Historical  Society. 

CHIEF  SHABBONA. 


INTERIM  — 1824-1858 

• 

EARLY  settlements  in  Illinois  were  made 
almost  exclusively  in  the  southern  part 
of  the  state.     Up  to  ten  or  more  years 
after  Illinois  had  become  a  state,  there  were 
no  white  settlers  north  and  west  of  the  Illinois 
River. 

The  Pottawatomies,  the  Winnebagoes,  the 
Sacs  and  the  Foxes  had  possession  of  that 
territory  just  as  they  had  had  always  so  far 
as  man  knew.  The  government  bought  a 
large  tract  of  this  land  from  the  Sacs  and  Foxes 
in  1804,  and  the  terms  of  the  treaty  made  at 
that  time  were  that  the  Indians  should  remove 
their  villages  to  the  west  of  the  Mississippi 
River ;  but  there  was  a  clause  in  the  treaty  to  the 
effect  that  the  red  man  might  hunt  and  even 
live  on  the  east  side  of  the  river  until  such  time 
as  the  land  was  claimed  as  settlements  for  the 
white  man.  The  Indians  lived  up  to  this 
clause.  This  treaty  was  confirmed  by  both 
chiefs  Black  Hawk  and  Keokuk  at  a  council 
held  at  Fort  Armstrong.*  When  six  years  later 
the  land  was  sold  to  be  occupied  by  white  set- 
tlers, the  Indians  were  notified  to  leave  and  go 

147 


148  DECISIVE  DATES 

across  the  river,  and  Keokuk  withdrew  in 
peace,  but  Black  Hawk  was  not  so  inclined. 

The  white  settlers  made  an  arrangement 
so  that  he  might  stay  in  peace,  but  it  did  not 
last  long.  They  tried  it  for  two  years  and  at 
last  found  they  could  no  longer  endure  the 
Indians,  so  Gov.  Reynolds  was  asked  for  aid. 

Fifteen  hundred  men  volunteered  to  fight 
and  Gen.  Gaines  was  given  command  of  this 
hastily  formed  army.  Black  Hawk  was  sure 
he  could  drive  out  the  intruding  white  man, 
but  he  understood  neither  the  strength  of 
the  white  race  nor  the  loyalty  of  the  Potta- 
watomies  to  their  pale-face  friends.  A  council 
was  held  at  the  mouth  of  Sycamore  Creek  in 
Ogle  County,  where  Black  Hawk  found  he 
could  not  secure  their  aid  because  Shabbona, 
on  account  of  his  friendship  for  the  whites, 
influenced  his  tribe  against  Black  Hawk's 
plans.  The  old  chief  was  discouraged  and 
ready  to  give  up  all  hostilities.  He  saw  his 
foe  near  him,  and  sent  out  ten  of  his  men  with 
a  flag  of  truce  to  sue  for  peace. 

But  these  white  men  were  a  part  of  the  un- 
disciplined scouts,  who,  although  under  the 
command  of  Maj.  Stillman,  acted  without 
orders.  These  soldiers  disregarded  the  flag 
of  truce  and  tried  to  kill  the  Indians  who  bore 


Courtesy  of  the  Illinois  State  Historical  Society. 

STILLMAN  VALLEY 

MONUMENT. 


BLACK  HAWK  WAR  149 

it,,  chasing  them  back  to  the  place  where  Black 
Hawk  was  waiting.  This  act  turned  the  old 
chief's  desire  for  peace,  and  in  true  Indian  fury 
he  rushed  upon  the  men,  killing  some  and  chas- 
ing the  others  back  to  Ogle's  Ferry.  This  ferry 
was  where  the  city  of  Dixon  now  stands.  It 
was  on  the  Kellogg  Trail  from  the  mines  at 
Galena  to  Fort  Clark  (now  Peoria),  over  which 
the  veteran  mail  carrier,  John  Dixon,  regularly 
passed.  The  brave  stand  taken  at  Stillman's 
Run  at  the  time  of  this  retreat,  by  Maj.  Perkins 
and  Capt.  Adams,  to  stop  the  Indians  in  their  mad 
following  of  these  frightened  volunteers,  showed 
the  true  soldier  spirit.  It  was  a  hand-to-hand  con- 
flict, and  in  it  Capt.  Adams  sacrificed  his  life. 

The  volunteer  army  was  now  thoroughly 
aroused  and  the  remainder  of  this  war  was  a 
little  more  than  a  search  for  the  foe,  and  repeat- 
ed attempts  at  annihilation  of  the  Indians. 
The  last  so-called  battle  of  Bad  Axe  which 
was  intended  by  the  Indians  to  be  a  trap  for 
the  white  man,  proved  to  be  a  slaughter  of  the 
red  men,  most  distressing  to  read.  Its  descrip- 
tion seems  more  nearly  a  massacre  than  a  battle. 
It  of  necessity  ended  the  war. 


A  brief  review  of  some  anti-slavery  influence 
at  work  in  Illinois  may  well  be  made  at  this 
time.  The  Jefferson-Lemen  compact  in  which 


150  DECISIVE  DATES 

Thos.  Jefferson  gave  of  his  money  and  influence 
to,  through  his  friend,  young  Lemen,  advance 
the  interest  of  anti-slavery  by  a  residence  and 
work  in  Illinois,  was  one  great  factor.  The 
settlement  at  New  Design,  the  building  churches 
of  the  Baptist  denomination  pledged  to  work 
against  the  institution,  was  another  strong  in- 
fluence for  anti-slavery.  Morris  Birkbeck,  the 
friend  of  Gov.  Coles,  at  his  English  Colony  in 
Edwards  County,  was  a  power  in  advancing  the 
cause  of  anti-slavery. 

Elijah  P.  Love  joy,  the  great  Abolitionist,  met 
bitter  opposition  where  he  might  have  won  a 
degree  of  support  had  his  zeal  been  less.  His 
radical  measures  doubtless  quickened  anti- 
slavery  sentiment. 

The  immigration  into  the  northern  counties 
after  the  Black  Hawk  War,  of  people  from  the 
New  England  states  brought  strong  convictions 
and  determined  advoctates  of  anti-slavery  into 
that  section  of  the  state. 

Again,  the  Yale  Band  of  enthusiastic  young 
men  who  came  into  the  state  to  locate  schools 
did  much  in  determining  sentiment  throughout 
the  state.  They  were  thoroughly  imbued  with 
the  idea  that  no  man  has  property  rights  in  his 
fellow  man,  and  that  slavery  is  fundamentally 
wrong. 


DATE  6.    1858. 
LINCOLN-DOUGLAS  DEBATES. 


DATE  6.     1858 

THERE  was  no  further  political  action, 
so  far  as  the  slavery  question  was  con- 
cerned, taken  in  Illinois  for  thirty  years 
after  the  defeat  of  the  Convention  to  so  amend 
the  Constitution  as  to  legalize  the  institution. 

However,  it  must  not  be  imagined  that  the 
subject  of  slavery  was  not  discussed  by  individu- 
als with  the  warmth  of  interest  it  received  in 
other  sections  of  the  country.  Indeed,  Illi- 
nois, because  of  its  location  and  the  source  of 
its  people,  was  a  place  of  great  difference  of 
opinion  on  this  subject,  and  became  a  battle- 
ground of  ideas. 

There  were  slave  states  to  the  south  and 
west.  These,  together  with  the  easy  communi- 
cation and  consequent  commercial  ties  to  the 
interests  of  the  south,  because  of  the  Missis- 
sippi River  being  the  entire  length  of  the 
western  border  of  Illinois,  made  the  pro-slavery 
adherents  numerous.  On  the  other  hand,  un- 
conditional anti-slave  states  lay  to  the  east  and 
the  west. 

Again,  the  southern  part  of  Illinois  was  set- 
tled almost  exclusively  by  Virginia,  Kentucky, 

153 


154  DECISIVE  DATES 

Tennessee  and  the  Carolinas.  These  settlers 
had  brought  their  prejudices  in  favor  of  the 
institution  of  slavery,  while  Northern  Illinois 
had  been  more  recently  peopled  with  New 
Englanders,  who  brought  their  strong  conviction 
concerning  the  moral  wrongs  of  slavery.  These 
were  as  two  diverse  streams  and  when  they 
met,  turbid  waters  were  as  a  matter  of  course. 

Strong  anti-slavery  sentiments  were  fostered 
in  certain  sections;  while  pro-slavery  doctrine 
was  as  vigorously  defended  in  other  sections. 
The  speedy  settlement  of  the  question  by  im- 
mediately abolishing  the  institution  of  slavery 
in  every  state,  found  but  a  limited  number  of 
adherents  in  Illinois.  The  radical  ideas  of  the 
Abolitionists  were  accepted  by  a  comparative 
few. 

The  Missouri  Compromise  satisfied  the  ma- 
jority of  the  people  of  Illinois,  in  that  it  re- 
stricted the  extension  of  slavery  into  new  terri- 
tory, while  it  was  legal  in  the  already  slave 
states.  But  the  time  came  when  the  Missouri 
Compromise  was  repealed.  And  not  long  after 
this,  the  Nebraska  bill  was  enacted.  The  legis- 
lation in  both  cases  was  through  efforts  of 
Illinois  men  in  Congress. 

Intense  feeling  was  aroused.  Up  to  this 
time  Stephen  A.  Douglas  had  been  the  idol  of 


Courtesy  of  Chicago 
Historical  Society 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 


From  Photograph 
taken  in  1858 


LINCOLN-DOUGLAS  DEBATES  155 

the  state.  Political  honors  were  heaped  upon 
him.  But  he  returned  from  the  session  of  Con- 
gress where  he  had  introduced  and  championed 
the  Nebraska  bill  to  its  passing,  to  find  senti- 
ment changed  toward  him.  Conditions  were 
rapidly  giving  way  to  new  ideas.  Represent- 
ing the  dominant  party,  Douglas  found  many  of 
his  supporters  wandering  away  to  unite  with 
representatives  of  the  Old  Line  Whigs  in  the 
common  interest  which  had  been  forced  upon 
them-  by  the  legislation  just  enacted.  The 
imminent  danger  of  extended  slave  territory 
was  the  openly-expressed  fear. 

At  this  time,  Abraham  Lincoln  was  brought 
out  as  a  candidate  for  the  office  of  United  States 
Senator,  to  be  vacated  by  James  Shields. 
Lincoln's  election  appeared  to  be  assured.  He 
was  a  Whig  and  unequivocally  against  the  idea 
of  the  extension  of  slavery. 

Unexpected  complications  arose,  and  Lyman 
Trumbull,  a  life-long  Democrat  and  friend  of 
Douglas,  but  who  opposed  the  extension  of 
slavery,  by  the  support  of  Lincoln  and  his 
friends,  was  elected  to  the  office  of  United  States 
Senator  in  1854.  This  sacrifice  of  his  personal 
ambition  on  the  part  of  Lincoln  was  character- 
istic of  the  man.  His  personal  loss  was  the  gain  to 
the  interest  of  the  nation.  By  his  withdrawal  in 


156  DECISIVE  DATES 

favor  of  Trumbull,  a  man  holding  identical 
views  on  extension  of  slavery,  was  sent  to  the 
Senate,  since  the  successful  candidate,  together 
with  John  M.  Palmer  and  many  others,  had 
forsaken  the  party  of  Douglas,  and  was  hence- 
forth bitter  and  vigorous  in  opposing  his  policy. 

Douglas  undertook  to  justify  his  action  through 
public  speeches,  but  found  the  people  of  Illinois 
were  far  from  friendly  toward  him.  His  first 
speech  was  made  at  Chicago  where  his  reception 
showed  the  effect  of  the  opposition  he  had  in 
every  newspaper.  He  was  interrupted  by  fre- 
quent hissing  and  cat-calls  and  adverse  remarks. 
Later,  his  speeches  at  Springfield  at  the  State 
Fair,  then  in  session,  and  at  Peoria,  were 
answered  by  Lincoln  in  a  way  to  increase  the 
unpopularity  of  Douglas  *  and  to  strengthen 
Abraham  Lincoln's  leadership. 

The  press  in  many  parts  of  the  state,  was 
indignant  at  the  measures  of  the  Nebraska 
bill.  Every  paper  in  Chicago  was  opposed 
to  the  policy  of  Senator  Douglas.  The  two 
years  following  the  election  of  Trumbull,  the 
press  of  the  state  worked  toward  the  organiza- 
tion of  a  new  party  from  those  who  opposed 
the  Nebraska  bill.  This  influence  kept  the 
opposition  alive  and  crystalized  it  in  Illinois, 


Courtesy  of  the  Illinois  State  Historical  Society. 
GEN.  JOHN  M.  PALMER. 


LINCOLN-DOUGLAS  DEBATES  157 

into  a  definite,  live,  winning  party.  It  was 
known  as  the  Anti-Nebraska  Party. 

Upon  the  initiative  suggestion  of  the  Journal 
published  at  Jacksonville,  seconded  by  twenty- 
four  other  newspapers  of  the  state,  a  meeting 
of  newspaper  men  having  organization  in  view, 
was  held  at  Decatur,  February  22,  1856.* 
The  result  of  this  meeting  was  a  committee 
appointed  to  call  a  convention  and  fix  a  ratio 
of  representation.  The  convention  was  called 
May  29,  1856,  at  Bloomington.  It  was  called 
and  acted  under  the  name  of  a  "State  Con- 
vention of  the  Anti-Nebraska  Party  of  Illi- 
nois." Those  who  responded  were  from  the 
old  Democratic  Party,  the  Old  Line  Whigs,  and 
the  new  so-called  Free-soil  Party,  with  even 
some  Radicals,  among  whom  was  Owen  Love- 
joy,  brother  of  the  martyred  Elijah  P.  Lovejoy. 

John  M.  Palmer,  a  life  long  political  and  per- 
sonal friend  of  Douglas,  was  chosen  permanent 
chairman  of  the  convention.  His  speech 
proved  the  wisdom  of  the  choice.  Other 
speeches  by  conservative  Whigs  followed  his. 
Then  came  Lovejoy's  eloquence  which  fired  his 
hearers  and  lessened  the  prejudice  that  many 
had  against  his  ultra  views.  Refugees  from 
Kansas  told  experiences  of  extreme  suffering  and 
outrageous  wrongs  perpetrated  upon  the  Free- 


158  DECISIVE  DATES 

State  men.  Every  man  present  rose  in  de- 
fense of  wronged  Kansas.  The  burden  of  the 
slave  code  being  forced  upon  Kansas,  whether 
or  not  the  people  were  willing,  aroused  the  in- 
dignant protest  of  the  convention. 

It  was  at  this  juncture  that  Abraham  Lin- 
coln arose  to  make  a  speech  which  has  been  called 
one  of  his  greatest  efforts.  For  some  reason  the 
speech  was  not  fully  reported  at  the  time  and 
although  since  it  has  been  claimed  to  be  given 
in  full  from  memory  of  someone  present,  it  has 
always  been  called  the  "lost  speech." 

It  is  well  to  remember  that  the  only  issue  pre- 
sented by  this  convention,  was  that  of  the  ex- 
tension of  slavery  in  the  territories.  The  moral 
right  of  slavery  as  an  abstract  proposition  nor 
the  expediency  of  abolitionism  were  mentioned, 
nor  came  into  discussion  during  the  convention. 

The  direct  result  of  this  convention  was  the 
election  in  November,  1856,  of  the  state  ticket 
there  nominated,  headed  by  William  H.  Bissell 
for  governor,  as  a  ticket  of  the  Anti-Nebraska 
Party. 

Abraham  Lincoln  walked  out  of  the  Bloom- 
ington  Convention  the  undisputed  leader  of  the 
new  political  party  in  Illinois.  In  less  than  a 
month  he  came  near  being  the  nominee  of  this 
new  party  for  vice-president.  Up  to  this  time 


Courtesy  of  the  Illinois  State  Historical  Society. 

GOV.  WM.  H.  BISSELL. 
FIRST  REPUBLICAN  GOVERNOR  OF  ILLINOIS. 


LINCOLN-DOUGLAS  DEBATES  159 

Lincoln's  active  work  had  been  done  in  central 
Illinois,  and  other  sections  of  the  state  hardly 
knew  him.  Now  his  reputation  as  a  political 
speaker  was  made  in  every  part  of  the  state. 

The  two  years  following  this  convention  were 
busy  times  for  press  and  people  to  advance  the 
principles  of  the  Anti-Nebraska  doctrine.  Then 
came  the  close  of  the  term  of  office  as  United 
States  Senator,  of  Judge  Douglas.  He  was  a 
candidate  for  re-election.  Every  effort  was 
made  by  his  friends  to  secure  a  state  legislation 
which  would  re-elect  Douglas,  while  his  oppo- 
nents were  none  the  less  earnest  and  busy.  In 
the  midst  of  the  campaign,  Lincoln,  who  was 
also  a  candidate,  challenged  Douglas  to  a  series 
of  debates  upon  the  all-absorbing  topic  of 
interest — the  extension  of  slavery  into  the 
territories.  The  challenge  was  accepted. 
Seven  times,  each  time  in  a  different  part  of  the 
state,  these  great  men  met,  and  before  immense 
audiences  presented  the  question  for  open  dis- 
cussion. 

Douglas  was  well  called  the  "little  giant." 
Small  of  stature,  he  had  a  great  head  crowned 
by  heavy  hair,  and  a  personality  which 
gave  him  the  power  to  sway  his  audience 
from  one  strong  impulse  to  another  as  he 
chose.  His  manner  was  that  of  the  well- 


160  DECISIVE  DATES 

bred  gentleman — the  state  loved  to  give  him 
honor.  Lincoln — tall  lank,  almost  ungainly  in 
personal  appearance- •  appeared  in  strange  con- 
trast. The  effect  upon  the  people  shows  the 
real  worth  of  the  two  men.  Douglas  won 
admiration  wherever  he  appeared,  but  Lincoln 
carried  the  hearts  of  the  people. 

The  first  debate  was  held  at  Ottawa,  August 
20th ;  Douglas  spoke  first  for  one  hour,  and  Lin- 
coln followed,  talking  one  hour  and  a  half. 
Then  Douglas  used  the  closing  thirty  minutes. 
The  next  debate  was  at  Freeport.  It  was  here 
that  Lincoln,  spite  of  the  efforts  of  his  friends  to 
dissuade  him,  asked  Douglas  the  fatal  question, 
the  answer  to  which  decided  the  fate  of  the 
nation  itself. 

This  being  the  second  debate,  it  was  Lincoln's 
turn  to  begin,  and  close  the  argument.  Al- 
though Freeport  was  in  that  part  of  the  state 
which  -held  strong  anti-slavery  sentiments, 
there  were  many  Douglas  Democrats  present. 

The  contrast  between  Douglas  and  Lincoln  in 
personal  appearance  was  never  more  strongly 
marked  than  upon  this  platform.  But  if  the 
first  sight  of  Lincoln  was  not  calculated  to 
attract  admiration,  it  was  for  but  a  brief  time 
until  his  sympathetic  nature  won  favor.  The 
power  of  his  logic,  clothed  in  words  so  clear 


Courtesy  of  Chicago 
Historical  Society 


STEPHEN  A.  DOUGLAS 


From  Photograph 
taken  in  1858 


LINCOLN-DOUGLAS  DEBATES  161 

and  simple  that  the  dullest  could  comprehend, 
together  with  his  magnetic  personality  claimed 
all  his  hearers,  and  the  audience  was  spellbound. 
Carefully  Lincoln  paved  the  way  for  the  all-im- 
portant question  to  be  given;  clearly  he  enun- 
ciated the  words:  "Can  the  people  of  a  United 
States  Territory  in  any  lawful  way,  against  the 
wish  of  any  citizen  of  the  United  States  exclude 
slavery  from  its  limits  prior  to  the  formation  of  a 
State  Constitution  ?  "* 

Senator  Douglas  arose  to  answer  this,  as  well 
as  the  other  points  of  Lincoln's  speech.  A  man 
of  the  world,  self-assured,  well-poised,  he  stood 
easy  and  indifferent.  He  skillfully  parried  all 
thrusts  made  by  Lincoln  and,  at  last,  carelessly 
answered  the  question :  "It  matters  not  which 
way  the  Supreme  Court  may  hereafter  decide 
as  to  the  abstract  question  whether  slavery  may 
or  may  not  go  into  a  territory  under  the  Con- 
stitution, the  people  have  the  lawful  means  to 
introduce  or  to  exclude  it  as  they  please,  for  the 
reason  that  slavery  cannot  exist  a  day  or  an 
hour  anywhere  unless  it  is  supported  by  local 
police  regulations." 

That  was  enough.  By  these  words  Douglas 
had  said  that  which  split  the  Democratic  Party 
two  years  hence.  The  solid  south  which  in- 
sured the  success  of  the  Democratic  Party  and 
(ID 


162  DECISIVE  DATES 

to  which  support  Douglas  had  catered  in  pass- 
ing the  Nebraska  bill,  listened  to  these  words, 
called  them  the  "Freeport  heresy  "  and  denied 
their  support  when  the  man,  two  years  later, 
was  a  candidate  for  place  as  President  on  the 
Democratic  ticket. 

Thus  Douglas  met  defeat  ultimately,  although 
his  answer  strengthened  him  with  northern 
Democrats,  and  he  was  re-elected  U.  S.  Senator, 
defeating  Lincoln  for  the  time  being. 

The  third  debate  was  had  at  Jonesboro  at  the 
other  extreme  of  the  state,  on  September  15th. 
The  fourth  debate  was  at  Charleston,  Septem- 
ber 18th;  the  fifth  debate  was  at  Galesburg, 
October  7th;  the  sixth  debate  was  at  Quincy, 
the  13th,  and  the  last  one  was  at  Alton  two 
days  later. 

When  Lincoln  determined  to  draw  Douglas 
out  to  make  the  statement  he  did  by  asking  him 
the  fatal  question,  his  friends  and  advisers  used 
every  argument  to  keep  him  from  doing  so. 
But  nothing  could  dissuade  him.  Not  even  the 
knowledge  that  the  answer  which  Douglas 
would  doubtless  make,  and  did  make,  would  in- 
crease the  strength  of  the  Democratic  party  in 
Illinois  and  cost  him  his  own  election  to  the 
United  States  Senate,  could  dissuade  him  from 
his  purpose.  Again  he  put  aside  his  personal 


LINCOLN-DOUGLAS  DEBATES  163 

ambition  for  the  good  of  his  party  and  the  cause 
he  espoused.  Not  that  he  lacked  in  political 
aspirations,  for  such  was  not  the  case.  There 
is  no  doubt  Lincoln  would  have  been  pleased  to 
go  to  the  United  States  Senate  from  Illinois. 
But  he  knew  the  "end  was  not  yet."  His 
prophetic  vision  showed  him  the  work  of  the 
"Freeport  Heresy,"  or,  as  others  call  it,  the 
"  Freeport  Doctrine,"  as  an  instrument  to  split 
the  party  which  stood  for  opposition  to  the  fight 
against  extension  of  slave  territory. 

Lincoln's  opportunity  to  lead  his  beloved 
country  through  troubled  waters  came.  He 
was  nominated  and  elected  President  of  the 
United  States  on  the  ticket  of  the  new  (Repub- 
lican) party  in  1860. 

His  nomination  was  made  in  the  historic 
Wigwam  in  Chicago.  This  building  remained 
in  existence  until  the  fire  of  1871. 

With  the  single  purpose  of  preserving  the 
Union,  Lincoln  dedicated  his  efforts  to  the  end 
"that  the  nation,  under  God,  have  a  new  birth 
of  Freedom,  and  that  government  of  the  people, 
by  the  people,  for  the  people,  shall  not  perish 
from  the  earth."*  Echoes  of  his  "  lost 
speech  "  made  at  the  Bloomington  Convention 
came  down  the  years  as  a  prophecy  of  his  action 


164  DECISIVE  DATES 

in  the  time  of  decision:  "We'll  not  go  out  of 
the  Union  and  you  (the  South)  shan't."* 

The  Union  was  preserved. 

Abraham  Lincoln,  the  rail-splitter,  the  store- 
keeper, the  lawyer,  the  statesman,  the  soldier, 
the  political  leader,  the  citizen  of  Illinois,  served 
his  country  as  President  of  the  United  States 
through  the  four  years  of  hard  work  and  great 
anxiety  following  his  inauguration  March  4, 
1860. 

The  country  grew  to  love  him  in  this  service, 
and  eagerly  responded  to  his  calls  for  volunteer 
soldiers  to  fight  for  the  maintenance  of  the 
Union.  He  was  re-elected  to  the  Presidency, 
but  scarcely  was  inaugurated  the  second  time 
before  he  was  assassinated. 

He  was  brought  back  to  his  beloved  state 
through  the  sad  lines  of  the  grief-stricken 
nation  and  was  laid  to  rest  in  the  soil  of  Illinois 
— the  state  which  had  made  possible  his  great 
service  to  the  world. 

He  had  lived  to  see,  in  less  than  a  decade,  his 
prophecy  come  true  and  to  learn  the  far-reaching 
results  of  his  famous  debates.  Instead  of  the 
new  territories,  the  entire  country  had  been 
forever  freed  from  the  curse  of  the  Institution 
of  Slavery,  and  the  Union  was  preserved. 


LINCOLN-DOUGLAS  DEBATES  165 

Surely  1858,  the  year  in  which  the  "  Freeport 
Heresy  "  was  voiced,  is  a  decisive  date  in  the 
history  of  Illinois  and  of  the  nation. 

NOTES  AND  EXPLANATIONS. 

Page  156  *The  story  of  Stephen  A.  Douglas  is  not  com- 
plete without  a  mention  of  his  generous  act  in  the 
speech  he  made  at  Springfield  after  War  was 
declared.  Defeated  as  he  had  been  by  Lincoln, 
when  his  country  was  in  dire  distress  and  Presi- 
dent Lincoln  called  for  volunteer  soldiers,  Douglas 
urged  his  friends  to  respond  to  the  call.  Judge 
Douglas  died  suddenly  in  Chicago  a  day  or  two 
after  he  made  this  speech,  greatly  mourned  by  the 
people  irrespective  of  party  affiliation. 

Page  157      *For   detailed   account   of   this   and   following 
.   Bloomington  Convention,  see  J.  O.  Cunningham  in 
Publication,  No.  10,  Hist.  Library,  p.  103. 

Page  161     *See  Illinois  Hist.  Col.,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  152. 
aSee  Illinois  Hist.  Col.,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  161. 

Page  163  *President  Lincoln's  address  at  Gettysburg, 
Nov.  19,  1864. 

Page  164  *The  "  lost  speech  "  of  Abraham  Lincoln  made 
at  Bloomington  Convention,  May  29th,  1856. 


CONCLUSION 


THE  COMMERCIAL  ERA 


CONCLUSION 


THE  COMMERCIAL  ERA 

THE  record  of  Illinois  during  the  Civil 
War  is  a  proud  one.  The  bravery  of  the 
soldiers,  the  wisdom  of  the  officers  and 
the  industry  of  those  at  home  who  gave  time, 
care  and  money  to  the  cause  of  the  war,  all 
make  a  bright  page  in  the  history  of  Illinois. 

Illinois  proudly  claims  Ulysses  S.  Grant  as 
one  of  her  sons,  yet  has  little  right  to  do  so 
since  his  citizenship  of  the  state  was  but 
limited. 

The  great  fire  which  destroyed  the  small 
city  to  make  possible  the  greater  Chicago; 
the  industrial  difficulties,  that  resulted  in 
mobs  and  bloodshed,  conspicuous  among  which 
was  the  Haymarket  riot;  the  discoveries  of 
great  resources  in  gas  and  oil  in  the  south- 
eastern part  of  the  state;  the  tragedy  of  the 
burning  of  the  Iroquois  theatre;  the  Deep 
Water  Way  proposition — all  these  have  become 
parts  of  the  history  of  Illinois. 

There  have  been  authors  and  preachers  and 
teachers  who  have  molded  public  opinion; 
statesmen  who  have  done  credit  to  the  common- 

169 


170  DECISIVE  DATES 

wealth;  philanthropists  who  have  led  the  world 
in  their  work;  merchant  princes  who  have 
carried  great  wealth.  The  healing  touch,  the 
skilled  labor  and  the  echoing  wisdom  from 
the  platform  are  not  lacking  in  the  history  of 
Illinois.  There  is  no  line  of  work  in  which 
the  state  has  not  excelled.  The  rapid  growth 
of  the  cities,  the  increased  extent  of  best 
facilities  for  transportation,  the  ever  increasing 
wealth  are  all  in  evidence. 

This  has  been  the  Commercial  Age.  Like 
the  age  of  Romance  it  is  sufficient  unto  itself. 
It  records  achievements  of  brain  and  brawn  of 
no  mean  proportions.  To  this  period  let  all 
honor  be  accorded.  Yet  do  not  look  for  any 
decisive  date  within  its  limits.  With  its  host 
of  events  of  historic  interest  crowding  each 
other,  there  is  not  one  to  be  found  which  can 
be  distinguished  as  having  as  yet  decided  any 
thought  or  action  of  importance  to  either  the 
State  or  the  Nation. 


ADDENDA 


GOVERNORS  OF  ILLINOIS 


SHADRACH  BOND— 1819-1823. 

SHADRACH  BOND,  the  first  governor  of 
Illinois,  was  born  in  Frederick  County, 
Md.,  in  1773.  When  he  had  reached 
man's  estate  he  followed  the  impulse  of  the 
times  and  went  into  the  western  part  of  the 
Northwest  Territory,  locating  near  Eagle  Creek 
in  the  "New  Design,"  in  what  is  now  Monroe 
County,  Illinois.  Here  he  was  a  farmer.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  Assembly  of  the  Indiana 
Territory  for  several  terms,  and  was  a  delegate 
to  the  Twelfth  and  Thirteenth  Congresses, 
from  the  Illinois  Territory,  from  1812-1814. 
When  his  term  as  delegate  expired,  he  was 
appointed  receiver  of  public  moneys  at  Kas- 
kaskia,  then  the  capital  of  the  Illinois  Territory. 
He,  together  with  seven  others,  founded  the 
city  of  Cairo.  This  city,  at  the  juction  of 
the  two  great  rivers,  near  the  center  of  the 
great  west,  promised  to  develop  into  a  metropo- 
lis. A  special  charter  incorporating  both  the 
city  and  bank  of  Cairo  was  obtained  from  the 
territorial  Legislature. 

173 


174  GOVERNORS  OF  ILLINOIS 

Mr.  Bond  was  elected  the  first  governor  of 
Illinois  in  1818,  with  Pierre  Menard  as  lieut.- 
governor.  At  this  time  there  were  but  eleven 
counties  in  the  state.  These  were  Randolph, 
Madison,  Gallatin,  Johnson,  Pope,  Jackson, 
Crawford,  Bond,  Union,  Washington  and  Frank- 
lin. Northern  Illinois  was  included  in  Madison 
County.  Illinois  had  not  completely  solved 
the  slavery  problem  although  it  was  admitted 
into  the  Union  as  a  free  state.* 

This  first  state  ticket  was  a  compromise  one. 
Bond  represented  the  "Convention"  or  pro- 
slavery  party,  supported  by  Elias  Kent  Kane, 
his  secretary  of  state,  and  John  McLean,  while 
Pierre  Menard  represented  the  anti-slavery  ele- 
ment led  by  Nathaniel  Pope  and  John  P.  Cook. 
The  election,  however,  was  less  a  test  of  the 
strength  of  party  sentiment  than  of  popularity 
of  candidates.  Gov.  Bond  was  a  popular 
favorite.  The  personal  favor  element  entered 
largely  into  the  appointments  during  this  ad- 
ministration, the  power  being  taken  out  of  the 
hands  of  the  chief  executive  and  vested  in  the 
Legislature. 

Two  years  after  his  term  as  governor  expired, 
Bond  was  defeated  for  Congress  by  the  invin- 
cible John  P.  Cook.  Three  years  later  the 
Legislature  appointed  ex-Gov.  Bond  one  of 


SHADRACH  BOND  175 

three  commissioners  to  locate  a  site  for  a  peni- 
tentiary on  the  Mississippi  at  or  near  Alton. 
Ex-Gov.  Bond  died  April  11,  1830. 

Gov.  Bond  was  a  man  of  attractive  personal 
appearance.  He  was  erect,  standing  six  feet, 
and  after  middle  life  became  quite  portly, 
weighing  two  hundred  pounds.  He  was  strong- 
ly masculine  in  features,  of  dark  complexion, 
jet  black  hair  and  hazel  eyes.  He  was  of  a 
benevolent  and  convivial  disposition,  shrewd  of 
observation  and  careful  in  giving  gubernatorial 
patronage,  thereby  making  warm  and  zealous 
friends  who  served  him  well. 

During  his  administration  a  general  law  was 
passed  for  the  incorporations  of  academies  and 
towns;  also  one  authorizing  lotteries.  Gov. 
Bond  was  also  authorized  by  the  session  of  the 
legislature  of  1822,  to  appoint  commissioners 
to  act  with  Commissioners  of  Indiana,  to  in- 
vestigate and  report  on  the  practicability  and 
expediency  of  improving  the  navigation  of  the 
Wabash  River;  also  inland  navigation  generally. 
Many  improvements  were  recommended.  Some 
of  them  were  feebly  attempted. 

In  1820,  Congress  authorized  the  state  to 
open  a  canal  through  the  public  lands.  This 
was  attempted,  but  later  abandoned  because  of 
lack  of  state  funds  until  some  time  afterward, 


176  GOVERNORS  OF  ILLINOIS 

when  Congress  made  the  grant  of  land  for  the 
purpose  of  its  construction.  It  was  during 
Bond's  administration  that  the  capital  was 
moved  from  Kaskaskia  to  Vandalia. 

During  the  territorial  period  of  the  existence 
of  Illinois,  the  following  counties  were  formed: 
St.  Clair,  Randolph,  Madison,  Gallatin,  Johnson, 
Edwards,  White,  Monroe,  Jackson,  Pope,  Craw- 
ford, Bond,  Franklin,  Union  and  Washington. 

The  second  session  of  the  first  General 
Assembly  of  the  State  of  Illinois  created  Alexan- 
der, Clark  (from  the  north  part  of  Crawford), 
Jefferson  (from  Edwards  and  White)  and 
Wayne  (from  Edwards)  counties.  Clark  county 
extended  on  the  north  to  the  line  of  the  Wiscon- 
sin territory.  During  the  rest  of  Bond's  admin- 
istration there  were  created  Lawrence  (from 
Crawford  and  Edwards) ,  Greene  (from  Madison) , 
Sangamon  (from  Madison),  Pike  (from  Madi- 
son and  Pike),  Hamilton  with  present  bounda- 
ries (from  western  part  of  White) ,  giving  White 
its  present  limits,  and  Montgomery  (from  Bond 
and  Madison)  counties. 

NOTES  AND  EXPLANATIONS 

Page  174      *  See  Date  V  and  VI. 


EDWARD  COLES — 1823-1827. 

EDWARD  COLES,  the  second  governor  of 
Illinois,  was  a  native  of  Virginia.  It  was 
at  Enniscorthy,  in  Albermarle  County, 
which  had  been  the  Coles  estate  for  several 
generations,  that  he  was  born  December  15, 
1786.  He  was  the  son  of  John  Coles  who  had 
been  a  colonel  in  the  Revolutionary  War.  Ed- 
ward was  among  the  youngest  of  ten  children. 
Thomas  Jefferson,  who  was  a  neighbor  and  inti- 
mate friend  of  the  family,  was  fond  of  the  youth, 
and  showed  him  many  favors,  none  of  greater 
value  than  his  counsel  and  the  influence  of  his 
personality.  It  was  from  Jefferson  that  young 
Coles  imbibed  ideas  of  the  wrongs  of  slavery. 
These  ideas  were  in  conflict  with  Coles'  life,  and 
the  views  of  almost  everyone  whom  he  knew. 

Edward  Coles  was  fitted  for  college  by  private 
tutors,  and  sent  to  Hampden  Sidney,  where  he 
remained  until  in  1805,  when  he  was  sent  to 
William  and  Mary  College.  Here  his  ideas 
crystalized  to  the  opinion  that  a  man  had  no 
property  right  to  his  fellow  man,  and  that  the 
principles  of  slavery  were  fundamentally  wrong, 
alike  injurious  to  the  master  and  to  the  slave. 

(12)  177 


178  GOVERNORS  OF  ILLINOIS 

Pretty  Dollie  Madison  was  Edward  Coles' 
cousin.  It  was  perhaps  to  please  her  that 
President  Madison  appointed  him  his  private 
secretary.  This  position  he  was  not  loath  to 
accept,  particularly  since  his  duties  included  at 
times,  the  escort  of  the  gracious  dame.  Edward 
Coles  at  this  time  was  a  handsome  young  man 
of  twenty-three,  tall  and  graceful,  with  polished 
education,  good  manners  and  an  irreproachable 
character.  He  was  the  proprietor  of  a  fine 
plantation,  and  the  owner  of  twenty-five  slaves 
which  was  his  share  of  his  father's  property  that 
he  had  inherited  the  previous  year.  He  was 
the  kinsman  of  Patrick  Henry,  the  friend  of 
Monroe  and  Madison,  and  the  trusted  protege 
of  Thomas  Jefferson. 

While  yet  secretary  to  President  Madison, 
Coles  was  sent  to  Russia  on  a  mission  requiring 
great  diplomacy.  Upon  his  homeward  journey, 
spending  some  time  in  England,  he  made  the 
acquaintance  in  London  of  Morris  Birbeck. 
This  acquaintance  ripened  into  a  beautiful 
friendship  through  which  Illinois  was  far  the 
richer. 

After  Edward  Coles  retured  to  America,  he 
determined  to  make  his  home  in  some  non-slave 
holding  part  of  the  United  States.  He  had 
visited  Illinois  twice;  once  in  1815  before  it  be- 


EDWARD  COLES  179 

came  a  state,  and  again  in  1818,  at  which  time 
he  spent  some  time  in  Waterloo.  He  recalled 
his  impression  of  the  country  with  so  much 
favor  that  he  decided  to  make  that  his  home. 
He  sold  his  land,  and  taking  his  slaves  with  him, 
in  the  spring  of  1819  set  out  on  his  journey. 
Not  that  he  had  any  intention  of  keeping  his 
slaves  as  slaves,  because  it  was  to  get  away  from 
the  institution  of  slavery  that  he  left  Virginia. 
He  did  not,  however,  free  his  slaves  nor  give 
them  any  idea  that  he  contemplated  doing  such 
a  thing  for  he  was  curious  to  know  how  the 
fact  of  their  freedom  would  affect  the  men  whom 
he  had  been  taught  to  look  upon  as  merely 
property. 

To  this  end,  he  made  the  journey  down  the 
Ohio,  and  up  the  Mississippi  River  in  flat  boats. 
As  they  were  descending  the  Ohio  River  one 
moon-light  night,  he  ordered  the  boats  to  be 
put  alongside  and  calling  the  slaves  together, 
in  a  dramatic  way,  told  them  they  were  free, 
that  they  might  go  where  they  chose.  The 
news  was  received  in  breathless  silen  ce .  "  Then , ' ' 
to  quote  the  words  of  Coles  himself,  "they 
stood  before  me  unable  to  utter  a  word,  but 
with  countenances  beaming  with  expression 
which  no  words  could  convey,  and  which  no 
language  can  describe.  After  a  pause  of  in- 


180  GOVERNORS  OF  ILLINOIS 

tense  and  unutterable  emotion,  bathed  in  tears, 
and  with  tremulous  voices,  they  gave  vent  to 
their  gratitude  and  implored  the  blessing  of  God 
on  me."  They  offered  him  a  year's  service  free 
which  he  refused.* 

He  continued  his  journey  to  near  where 
Edwards ville  now  is  located,  where  he  left  his 
boats  and  giving  the  negroes  certificates  of  free- 
dom, gave  each  head  of  a  family  160  acres  of 
tillable  land  and  let  them  begin  their  new  lives, 
free  men,  each  with  a  good  home. 

President  Monroe  had  appointed  Edward 
Coles  as  Registrar  of  the  Land  Office,  and  he 
began  his  duties  at  once,  making  his  home  in 
Edwards  ville.  Three  years  later  he  was  elected 
the  second  governor  of  Illinois,  after  a  bitter 
campaign,  the  issue  of  which  was  the  slavery 
problem,  t 

Like  the  preceding  administration,  this  one 
showed  the  unsettled  state  of  political  senti- 
ments by  having  a  governor  and  lieutenant- 
governor  holding  directly  opposite  views.  Gov. 
Coles  strengthened  his  party  by  appointing 
Morris  Birbeck,  secretary  of  state. 

The  inaugural  speech  of  Gov.  Coles  showed 
the  greatness  of  the  man  in  that,  while  making 
no  compromise  with  evil,  he  showed  a  calmness, 
a  deliberation  and  such  appropriate  suggestions 


EDWARD  COLES  181 

that  he  won  the  approval  of  all  judicious  poli- 
ticians. His  conduct  during  his  term  of  office 
was  most  praiseworthy. 

After  an  extremely  strenuous  four  years  *  of 
service  to  the  state,  Gov.  Coles  retired  to  his 
home  at  Edwardsville  busying  himself  with  the 
care  of  his  nearby  farm;  agricultural  pursuits 
were  always  attractive  to  him.  He  was  the 
founder  of  the  first  agricultural  society  of  the 
state. 

His  ill  health  sent  him  frequently  to  eastern 
cities,  and  in  1832,  he  made  Philadelphia  his 
permanent  home.  He  died  there  July  7,  1868, 
and  is  buried  in  Woodland  near  that  city.  His 
administration  is  marked  by  the  constant  and 
bitter  struggle  for  and  against  calling  a  conven- 
tion to  amend  the  constitution  so  as  to  legalize 
slavery  in  Illinois,  and  by  its  triumphant  de- 
feat, largely  owing  to  the  efforts  of  Gov.  Coles. 
In  1825 ,  the  first  general  school  law  was  enacted ; 
Gen.  Lafayette  visited  Illinois;  the  Illinois  and 
Michigan  Canal  Association  was  incorporated. 

Four  new  counties  were  created  in  1823. 
These  were  Edgar  (from  Clark),  Marion  (from 
Fayette  and  Jefferson)  with  present  boundaries, 
Fulton  (from  Pike)  and  Morgan  (from  Sanga- 
mon  and  unorganized  territory).  A  year  later 
Clay  (from  Fayette,  Crawford  and  Wayne), 


182  GOVERNOR  OF  ILLINOIS 

Clinton  with  present  boundaries  (from  Wash- 
ington, Fayette  and  Bond)  and  Wabash  with 
present  limits  (from  Edwards)  were  created 
while  Edwards,  Wayne  and  Washington  were 
reduced  to  present  limit.  Calhoun,  Adams, 
Hancock,  Peoria  and  McDonough  with  present 
boundaries,  Warren,  Mercer,  Knox,  Schuyler, 
Putnam,  Henry  and  Vermilion  counties  all  were 
created  during  the  Coles'  administration. 

Vermilion  county  was  created  January  18, 
1826,  from  unorganized  territory  attached  to 
Edgar.  Pike,  Fulton,  Edgar  and  St.  Clair 
counties  were  all  reduced  to  present  limits  dur- 
ing this  term  of  office  of  Gov.  Coles. 

NOTES  AND  EXPLANATIONS 

Page  180      *  There  is  a  picture  representing  this  scene  at 
the  Capitol  in  Springfield. 

t  See  page  143. 
Page  181      *  See  page  143. 


NINIAN  EDWARDS  — 1826-1830. 

NINIAN  EDWARDS,  the  third  governor 
of  Illinois,  was  the  son  of  Benjamin  Ed- 
wards.    He  was  born  in   Montgomery 
County,  Md.,  in  March,  1775.     His  parents  were 
Baptists  and  very  strict  in  the  training  of  their 
son.     His  early  education  was  in  company  and 
under  the  tuition  of  William  Wirt.     Here  an 
intimacy  was  formed  which  lasted  during  the 
life  of  the  two  men. 

His  education  was  further  carried  on  at  Dick- 
inson College.  He  began  the  study  of  law,  but 
left  home  at  the  age  of  nineteen  to  go  to  Nelson 
County,  Ky.  Here  he  fell  into  bad  company 
and  squandered  much  of  his  father's  wealth  in 
buying  farms,  buildings,  tan-yards,  etc.,  all  of 
which  were  poor  investments.  Realizing  his 
errors  he  had  strength  of  will  and  purpose  to 
call  a  halt  and  reform  his  ways.  He  devoted 
himself  to  the  study  of  law  and  its  practice,  and 
in  a  few  years  attained  distinction.  He  repre- 
sented Nelson  County  in  the  legislature  of 
Kentucky  before  he  was  twenty-one  years  old, 
and  was  re-elected  by  almost  an  unanimous 
vote. 

183 


184  NINIAN  EDWARDS 

When  he  was  twenty-four  years  old  he  re- 
moved from  Nelson  County  to  Russelville  in 
Logan  County,  where  he  entirely  gave  up  his 
reckless  ways  and  devoted  himself  to  severe  and 
laborious  study.  He  soon  became  an  eminent 
lawyer.  Inside  of  four  years,  he  filled  the 
offices  of  presiding  judge  of  the  general  court, 
circuit  judge,  fourth  judge  of  the  court  of 
appeals,  and  chief  justice  of  the  state. 

In  1802,  he  was  commissioned  major  of  a 
battalion  of  Kentucky  militia,  and  in  1804  was 
chosen  a  presidential  elector  on  the  Jefferson 
and  Clinton  ticket.  In  1806,  he  was  a  candidate 
for  Congress,  but  withdrew  on  being  promoted 
to  the  court  of  appeals. 

Three  years  later,  when  Illinois  Territory  was 
organized,  President  Madison  appointed  Judge 
Edwards,  then  chief  justice  of  the  court  of 
appeals  in  Kentucky,  governor  of  the  new 
territory.  At  the  same  time  Judge  Edwards 
was  appointed  superintendent  of  the  United 
States  salines. 

He  continued  in  this  position  until  the  terri- 
tory was  made  a  state  in  1818,  having  been  re- 
appointed  twice.  When  Governor  Bond  was 
inaugurated  as  first  governor  of  the  state, 
Edwards  was  sent  to  the  United  States  Senate, 
his  colleague  being  Jesse  B.  Thomas.  He  was 


GOVERNORS  OF  ILLINOIS  185 

appointed  minister  to  Mexico  by  President 
Monroe,  but  resigned  that  he  might  have  cer- 
tain charges  made  against  him  fully  investi- 
gated. The  result  was  his  complete  vindica- 
tion. 

He  was  elected  governor  of  the  state  in  1826, 
and  served  until  1831.  His  views  on  the  sub- 
ject of  slavery  were  the  same  as  Gov.  Coles', 
although  the  so-called  "Black  Laws"  dis- 
graced the  statute  of  both  territory  and  state 
during  his  administrations. 

When  Judge  Edwards  first  came  to  Illinois 
Territory,  he  resided  at  Kaskaskia,  and  soon 
afterward  bought  a  farm  near  Prairie  du  Rocher, 
which  he  called  Elvivade  for  his  wife  El  viva. 
This  he  stocked  with  horses,  cattle  and  sheep  of 
choice  breeding  from  Kentucky;  also  with 
fruit  trees,  grape  vines  and  shrubbery.  He 
also  established  grist-mills  and  saw-mills.  He 
owned  no  less  than  eight  or  ten  stores  in  Illinois 
and  Missouri  at  the  same  time,  and  himself 
attended  to  the  buying  for  them  all. 

He  was  very  liberal  to  the  poor,  providing 
homes  for  several  widows  and  ministers  of  the 
gospel.  While  he  never  became  a  regular 
practioner  of  medicine,  he  studied  the  healing 
art,  and  had  great  skill  in  prescribing  and  caring 
for  the  sick,  making  no  charge  for  the  same. 


186  NINIAN  EDWARDS 

His  home  was  at  Elvivada  during  his  term 
as  Governor  of  Illinois  Territory.  Then  he  re- 
moved to  Edwardsville  in  Monroe  County. 
This  town  was  named  for  him.  He  lived  there 
during  his  term  in  the  United  States  Senate, 
after  which  he  moved  to  Belleville  where  he 
lived  until  his  death  July  20,  1833. 

In  person,  Gov.  Edwards  was  a  fine-looking, 
polished  gentleman,  aristocratic  in  his  bearing. 
He  was  highly  intellectual,  with  a  general 
hospitality  and  benevolence.  It  was  because 
of  his  desires  to  help  his  fellows,  that  he  con- 
tracted the  Asiatic  cholera,  which  resulted  in 
his  death.  He  gave  a  good  administration. 
It  closed  with  every  evidence  of  good-will  and 
satisfaction. 

The  depredations  of  the  Winnebago  Indians 
in  the  northern  part  of  the  state,  together  with 
the  desire  of  the  white  settlers  to  have  un- 
divided possession  of  the  land,  aroused  hostilities 
which  resulted  in  the  so-called  Winnebago  War. 
The  capture  and  death  of  Red  Bird  ended  the 
contest.  Gov.  Edwards  was  kept  busy  in  his 
care  of  the  Illinois  frontier,  and  his  interpreting 
and  execution  of  the  treaties.  This  was  par- 
ticularly difficult  since  the  Indians  kept  them- 
selves generally  within  the  jurisdiction  of 
Michigan  Territory,  and  Lewis  Cass,  the  gov- 


GOVERNORS  OF  ILLINOIS  187 

ernor,  was  so  remote  that  necessary  correspon- 
dence with  him  was  almost  impossible. 

It  was  during  the  administration  of  Gov. 
Edwards — in  1826 — that  the  first  steamboat 
was  put  on  the  Illinois  River.  In  1827,  the 
penitentiary  at  Alton  was  built.  In  1829, 
Illinois  College  was  founded. 

Shelby  (from  Fayette),  Perry  with  present 
boundaries  (from  Randolph  and  Jackson), 
Tazewell,  JoDaviess  (from  Mercer,  Henry  and 
Putnam),  Macoupin  with  present  boundaries 
(from  Madison),  Macon,  Coles  (from  Clark), 
McLean  (from  Tazewell) ,  Cook  (from  Putnam) , 
LaSalle  (from  Putnam),  Rock  Island  with  its 
present  boundaries  (from  JoDaviess),  Effing- 
ham  with  present  boundaries  (from  Fayette 
and  Crawford)  and  Jasper  with  present  bound- 
aries (from  Crawford  and  Clay)  counties;  all 
were  created  during  the  administration  of  Gov. 
Edwards. 


JOHN  REYNOLDS — 1831-1834. 

JOHN  REYNOLDS  was  the  fourth  governor 
of  Illinois.  He  was  born  in  Montgomery 
County,  Pennsylvania,  February  26,  1788. 
His  father,  Robert  Reynolds  and  his  mother, 
Margaret  Moore,  were  natives  of  Ireland,  coming 
to  America  three  years  previous  to  his  birth. 
When  but  a  baby,  he  came  with  his  parents  into 
Tennessee,  where  they  located  at  the  base  of  the 
Copper  Ridge  Mountains,  about  fourteen  miles 
northeast  of  where  now  is  Knoxville.  Because 
of  the  hostilities  of  the  Indians,  they  later 
moved  into  the  interior  of  the  state.  They 
were  always  poor,  and  in  1800  the  family  made 
another  move  to  better  their  condition.  This 
time  they  went  to  Kaskaskia,  in  the  then 
Indiana  Territory.  They  came  overland  in  two 
wagons  having  eight  horses. 

Seven  years  later  the  family  moved  once 
more.  This  time  they  went  to  the  Goshen 
settlement  at  the  foot  of  the  Mississippi  bluffs, 
in  what  is  now  Monroe  County.  The  year 
afterward,  John  Reynolds  being  twenty  years 
old,  he  resolved  to  go  to  college  and  went  to 
Knoxville,  Tennessee,  where  he  had  relatives. 

188 


GOVERNORS  OF  ILLINOIS  189 

for  the  purpose  of  entering  school.  He  stayed 
there  three  years,  when  ill  health  sent  him 
back  home  for  a  short  time,  but  he  returned  to 
Knoxville  and  continued  his  studies,  taking  up 
the  study  of  law. 

He  won  his  nickname  of  "Old  Ranger" 
during  his  service  in  the  War  of  1812.  He  be- 
gan the  practice  of  law  in  Cahokia.  In  1818, 
he  was  elected  an  associate  justice  upon  the 
supreme  bench  by  the  General  Assembly.  In 
1826,  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  state 
Legislature.  Here  he  acted  independently  of 
all  cliques  and  private  interests. 

He  was  elected  governor  in  1830  on  the  Jack- 
son ticket.  While  in  that  place  of  authority, 
he  did  all  that  was  in  his  power  to  advance  the 
cause  of  education,  to  advance  internal  im- 
provements and  to  encourage  the  settling  of  the 
country.  He  called  out  the  militia  and  was 
himself,  always  on  the  battle-field  in  the 
engagements  of  the  Black  Hawk  War*  of 
1832.  He  condemned  the  South  Carolina 
Nullification,  which  came  up  at  this  time.  Just 
before  the  close  of  his  term  he  was  elected  to 
Congress  to  fill  out  the  term  of  Charles  Slade, 
who  had  died  of  Asiatic  cholera.  This  com- 
pelled him  to  resign  his  office  a  short  time  before 
the  end  of  his  term. 


190  JOHN  REYNOLDS 

During  the  eight  sessions  that  he  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  House,  he  was  hardly  absent  from  his 
seat  a  single  day,  and  he  never  wavered  in  a 
party  vote.  He  built  the  first  railroad  in  Illi- 
nois. This  was  about  six  miles  long  and  led 
from  his  coal  mine  in  the  Mississippi  bluff,  to 
the  bank  of  the  river  opposite  St.  Louis.  Not 
having  money  enough  to  buy  a  locomotive,  this 
railroad  was  operated  by  horse  power.  In 
1839,  he  was  appointed  one  of  the  canal  com- 
missioners. In  1846,  he  was  elected  a  member 
of  the  Legislature  from  St.  Clair  County  so  that 
a  charter  for  macadamizing  the  road  from 
Belleville  to  St.  Louis,  a  distance  of  fourteen 
miles,  might  be  obtained. 

He  was  again  sent  to  the  Legislature  in  1852, 
when  he  was  made  speaker  of  the  house. 
In  1860,  he  went  to  the  Charleston,  S.  C.,  Con- 
vention as  an  anti-Douglas  delegate.  As  such, 
he  received  much  attention  from  the  southern 
delegates.  He  warmly  supported  Brecken- 
ridge  for  the  presidency,  and  when  the  October 
elections  showed  the  probability  of  Lincoln 
being  elected,  he  urged  the  Democrats  to  rally 
to  the  support  of  Douglas,  hoping  to  throw  the 
election  into  Congress  and  thereby  defeat  all 
but  Breckenbridge. 


GOVERNORS  OF  ILLINOIS  191 

He  deeply  sympathized  with  the  south  re- 
garding secession,  and  urged  upon  the  Bu- 
chanan officials  that  they  seize  the  treasure  and 
arms  in  the  custom  house  and  arsenal  at  St. 
Louis. 

Gov.  Reynolds  was  a  man  who  talked  much, 
and  used  all  the  catch  words  and  slang  of  his 
time,  adding  thereto  with  many  cunning  and 
odd  words  of  his  own.  He  was  the  author  of 
several  books,  among  which  is  a  not  very  re- 
liable history  entitled  "My  Own  Times."  His 
"  The  Pioneer  History  of  Illinois,"  published 
three  years  previous,  is  no  less  highly  colored 
with  personal  opinions  of  men  and  events.  He 
died  at  Belleville  in  May,  1865. 

Two  important  events  were  within  his  ad- 
ministration. These  were  the  Black  Hawk 
War,  *  and  the  scourge  of  Asiatic  cholera 
which  swept  the  state.  In  1831,  Illinois  was 
reapportioned  and  had  three  congressmen. 
In  1833,  Chicago  was  incorporated  as  a  village. 

Champaign  county,  with  its  present  bound- 
aries (from  Vermilion  and  unorganized  territory 
lying  west  of  it),  and  Iroquois  (from  unorgan- 
ized territory  north  of  Vermilion) ,  were  created 
during  the  administration  of  Gov.  Reynolds. 
NOTES  AND  EXPLANATIONS 

Page  188      *  See  page  147. 
Page  190      *  See  page  147. 


WILLIAM  LEE  D.  EWING,  NOVEMBER  3,  1834- 
NOVEMBER  17,  1834. 

ZODOK  CASEY,  the  Lieutenant-Governor 
during  Reynolds  administration,  was 
elected  to  congress  in  the  latter  part  of 
1832.  Gen.  Ewing,  who  had  distinguished 
himself  in  the  Black  Hawk  War,  had  been 
elected  to  the  Senate,  and  was  chosen  presiding 
officer  on  account  of  the  resignation  of  the 
Lieutenant-Governor.  Because  of  this  official 
position,  when  Gov.  Reynolds  resigned  to  go  to 
Congress  on  account  of  the  death  of  his  pred- 
ecessor, Chas.  Slade,  Gen.  Ewing  became 
Governor  of  Illinois  until  the  inauguration  of 
his  successor,  who  was  already  elected. 

He  assumed  the  duties  of  his  office  November 
third,  and,  on  the  seventeenth,  when  the 
Legislature  met,  he  sent  in  his  message  giving  a 
statement  of  the  condition  of  affairs  of  the  state, 
and  urging  a  continuance  of  the  policy  adopted 
by  Gov.  Reynolds.  On  the  same  day  Governor- 
elect  Duncan,  was  sworn  in  and  Gov.  Ewing  was 
relieved  of  the  responsibilities  of  his  office. 

A  year  later  Gen.  Ewing  was  elected  to  the 
United  States  Senate  to  fill  out  the  term  of 

192 


GOVERNORS  OF  ILLINOIS  193 

Elias  Kent  Kane  who  had  died.  His  election 
was  a  protracted  struggle,  it  being  strongly 
contested  by  James  Simple  and  Richard  M. 
Young.  In  1842,  Gen.  Ewing  was  elected  state 
auditor  on  the  ticket  with  Gov.  Ford.  Gen. 
Ewing  was  a  polished  gentleman  of  culture, 
with  refined  tastes  and  having  a  thorough  edu- 
cation. 

He  was  a  lawyer  and  much  in  public  life. 
He  was  above  medium  height,  of  heavy  build, 
with  auburn  hair,  blue  eyes,  large-sized  head 
and  short  face.  He  died  March  25,  1846.  He 
is  buried  in  Oak  Ridge  Cemetery,  Springfield. 


(13) 


JOSEPH  DUNCAN,  1834-1839. 

JOSEPH  DUNCAN,  the  sixth  governor  of 
Illinois,  was  born  at  Paris,  Ky.,  February 
23,  1794.  He  enlisted  in  the  war  of  1812, 
although  but  eighteen  years  old,  and  as  a  sol- 
dier, acquitted  himself  with  credit.  He  was 
an  ensign  under  the  dauntless  Croghan  at 
Lower  Sandusky  or  Fort  Stephenson.  After 
moving  to  Illinois,  he  attracted  attention  as 
Major-General  of  the  Militia. 

He  made  his  home  in  Jackson  County  and 
from  there  went  to  the  State  Senate.  It  was 
at  this  time  that  he  introduced  the  first  bill 
providing  for  a  Free-school  system. 

In  1826,  he  defeated  the  popular  John  P. 
Cook  for  Congress.  He  retained  his  seat  in 
Congress  during  three  terms.  Indeed  he  was 
absent  in  Washington  attending  to  these  duties 
during  the  gubernatorial  campaign  which  result- 
ed in  his  election  as  Governor  of  Illinois.  In 
his  inaugural  message  he  recommended  meas- 
ures so  desirable,  that  the  Legislature,  although 
by  a  large  majority  of  the  opposite  political 
party,  endorsed  him.  These  measures  related 
mainly  to  banks  and  internal  improvements. 

194 


GOVERNORS  OF  ILLINOIS  195 

His  term  expired  in  1838.  In  1842,  he  was 
nominated  for  governor  by  the  Whig  party  in 
opposition  to  Adam  W.  Snyder  of  Cairo,  a 
Democrat.  Before  the  campaign  had  advanced 
very  far  Snyder  died,  and  his  party  substituted 
Theo.  Ford,  who  was  duly  elected. 

Gov.  Duncan  was  a  man  of  limited  education. 
He  possessed  natural  fine  abilities  and  profited 
by  his  experiences.  He  was  a  man  of  clear 
judgment,  was  decisive,  had  confidence  in  him- 
self and  the  courage  of  his  convictions. 

He  had  a  swarthy  skin,  high  cheek-bones, 
broad  forehead,  piercing  black  eyes  and  straight 
black  hair.  No  doubt  a  strong  factor  in  his 
life  was  his  connection  with  the  men  who, 
together  with  himself,  belonged  to  the  board  of 
trustees  of  the  Illinois  College  at  Jacksonville. 
He  died  January  15,  1844.  It  was  during  the 
administration  of  Gov.  Duncan  that  the  people 
of  Illinois  apparently  lost  their  wits;  at  least, 
lost  all  judgment,  in  the  craze  over  internal 
improvements.  So  extensive  did  these  im- 
provements become  that  the  state  was  com- 
pletely overwhelmed.  The  estimate  for  the 
expenses  for  all  these  projects  was $10, 000, 000, 
but  really  it  was  less  than  half  enough. 
It  was  enough  to  bankrupt  the  state  several 
times  over. 


196  JOSEPH  DUNCAN 

During  Gov.  Duncan's  administration  Elijah 
P.  Lovejoy  was  killed  at  Alton  by  a  mob.  In 
1833,  the  Illinois,  the  Shurtleff,  and  the  McKen- 
dree  colleges  were  incorporated.  The  old  State 
House  at  Vandalia  was  torn  down  and  a  new 
one  built  in  1836.  This  was  with  the  hope  that 
a  new  State  House  would  hold  the  capital  at 
Vandalia.  This  building  has  since  always  been 
the  court  house  of  Fayette  County.  In  1837, 
a  bill  was  passed  the  Legislature  making  Spring- 
field the  future  capital  of  the  state. 

Will  county  (from  Cook  and  Iroquois),  Kane, 
McHenry,  Ogle,  Winnebago,  Whiteside  with 
present  boundaries,  Livingston  with  present 
boundary  (from  La  Salle,  McLean  and  un- 
organized territory), Bureau  with  present  bound- 
aries (from  Putnam),  Boone  with  present  bound- 
aries (from  Winnebago),  De  Kalb  with  pres- 
ent boundaries  (from  Kane),  Stephenson  with 
present  boundaries  (from  Winnebago  and  Jo 
Daviess),  and  Cass  (from  Morgan),  were  all 
created  during  the  administration  of  Gov. 
Duncan. 


THOMAS  CARLIN,  1839-1843. 

THOMAS  CARLIN  was  the  seventh  gov- 
ernor of   Illinois.      He   was   born    near 
Frankfort,  Ky.,  July  18,   1789,  of  Irish 
parentage.     When  the  lad  was  fourteen  years 
old,  his  father  moved  to  Missouri — New  Spain 
as  it  was  then. 

In  1812  Carlin  came  to  Illinois  and  proved 
himself  a  brave  soldier.  Two  years  later  he 
married  and  settled  on  the  bank  of  the  Missis- 
sippi River  opposite  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri, 
living  the  life  of  a  farmer.  At  the  end  of  this 
time  he  moved  to  Greene  County.  He  located 
the  town  site  of  Carrollton.  He  was  the  first 
sheriff  of  Greene  County  and  was  later  twice 
elected  as  a  Jackson  Democrat  to  the  Illinois 
senate.  He  served  in  the  Black  Hawk  War. 
In  1834  he  was  appointed  by  President  Jackson 
to  the  position  of  receiver  of  public  moneys, 
and  to  better  fill  that  office  he  moved  to  Quincy. 
He  was  a  typical  self-made  man,  having  had 
but  a  limited  education. 

At  the  close  of  his  term  of  office,  from  1838 
to  1842,  Gov.  Carlin  returned  to  Carrollton 
where  he  remained  caring  for  his  farm,  until 

197 


198  THOMAS  CARLIN 

his  death  Feb.  4,  1852.  It  was  during  the 
term  of  Gov.  Carlin  that  the  noisy  national 
campaign  of  Tippecanoe  and  Tyler  occurred 
with  its  Whig  victory.  It  was  during  his 
administration  that  the  capital  was  moved 
from  Vandalia  to  Springfield. 

The  internal  improvement  efforts  were  of 
necessity  brought  to  an  end  during  this  adminis- 
tration. Knox  College  opened  in  1841. 

Brown  county  (from  Schuyler),  Du  Page 
(from  Cook),  Christian  (from  Shelby,  Mont- 
gomery and  Sangamon),  together  with  Mar- 
shall (from  Putnam),  Logan  (from  Sangamon), 
Menard  (from  Sangamon)  and  DeWitt  (from 
McLean),  Hardin  (from  Pope),  Scott  (from  Mor- 
gan), Carroll  (from  Jo  Daviess),  Lee  (from 
Ogle),  Jersey  (from  Greene),  Lake  (from  Mc- 
Henry),  Stark  (from  Knox  and  Putnam),  Hen- 
derson (from  Warren),  Mason  (from  Tazewell 
and  Menard),  Piatt  (from  DeWitt  and  Macon), 
Grundy  (from  La  Salle),  Kendall  (from  La  Salle 
and  Kane),  Richland  (from  Clay  and  Law- 
rence) and  Woodford  (from  McLean  and  Taze- 
well), all  with  present  boundaries  were  created 
during  the  term  of  office  of  Gov.  Carlin. 


THOMAS  FORD,  1843-1847. 

THE  eighth  governor  of  Illinois,  Thomas 
Ford,  was  a  native  of  Pennsylvania, 
being  born  at  Uniontown  in  1800.  His 
father  died  two  years  later.  His  mother,  left  in 
indigent  circumstances  with  a  large  family  mostly 
girls,  with  an  idea  of  bettering  her  condition, 
decided  to  remove  to  Missouri  where  it  was 
customary  for  the  Spanish  government  to  give 
land  to  anyone  who  would  become  an  actual 
settler.  But  when  she  reached  St.  Louis  she 
found  the  country  had  been  ceded  to  the 
United  States  and  the  liberal  policy  toward 
new  settlers  completely  changed.  Thomas  was 
four  years  old  at  this  time.  After  sickness, 
she  moved  across  the  river  to  Illinois,  going  three 
miles  south  of  Waterloo,  and  the  following 
year  moved  nearer  the  Mississippi  bluffs. 

Here  Thomas  started  to  school,  walking 
three  miles  to  a  Mr.  Humphrey  under  whom 
he  studied.  He  had  a  good  mind  with  an  in- 
clination for  mathematics.  He  attracted  the 
attention  of  Hon.  Daniel  P.  Cook*  who  became 
his  patron  and  friend.  At  the  suggestion  of 
this  friend,  young  Ford  turned  his  attention  to 
the  study  of  Law.  But  his  older  half-brother 

199 


200 

thought  his  education  defective  and  sent  him 
to  Transylvania  University  for  a  short  time. 

In  1829  Gov.  Edwards  appointed  him  prose- 
cuting attorney,  and  in  1831  he  was  re-appoint- 
ed by  Gov.  Reynolds.  After  that,  he  was  four 
times  elected  a  judge  by  the  Legislature, 
without  opposition,  twice  a  circuit  judge,  once 
a  judge  of  Chicago  and  an  associate  judge  of 
the  supreme  court,  when,  in  1841,  it  was  re- 
organized by  the  addition  of  five  judges. 

Judge  Ford  was  holding  court  in  Ogle  County, 
having  been  assigned  to  the  ninth  judicial 
circuit,  when  he  received  notice  of  having  been 
nominated  by  the  Democratic  Convention  for 
governor.  He  resigned  his  place  on  the 
supreme  bench  at  once,  and  entered  into  the 
canvass.  Of  all  the  offices  ever  held  by  him 
every  one  came  to  him  unsolicited. 

In  personal  appearance  Gov.  Ford  was  short, 
slender  and  dark  of  complexion.  He  had 
black  hair,  deep  set  eyes,  sharp  features  and  a 
pointed  aquiline  nose,  and  a  small  mouth. 
He  was  plain  and  unostentatious.  As  a  lawyer 
he  was  not  so  great  a  success  in  pleading,  as 
many.  He  was  more  fitted  for  a  writer  upon 
law  than  an  advocate.  As  judge  his  opinions 
were  clear  and  sound.  He  wrote  a  history 
of  Illinois  which  is  both  readable  and  quite 


GOVERNORS  OF  ILLINOIS  201 

authentic.  He  died  at  Peoria,  111.,  Nov.  2, 
1850,  in  indigent  circumstances. 

The  most  important  event  of  his  adminis- 
tration may  well  be  headed  by  the  wise  determi- 
nation to  not  permit  repudiation  of  state  debt, 
which  was  the  tendency  when  Gov.  Ford  went 
into  office.  For  his  efforts,  which  resulted  in 
maintaining  the  public  credit,  every  citizen 
of  today  has  reason  to  be  grateful.  The  Mor- 
mon troubles  during  his  administration,  together 
with  the  Massac  Rebellion,  placed  Gov.  Ford 
in  a  position  where  he  received  adverse  criticism. 
He  was  closely  connected  with  the  Mormon  agita- 
tion. Their  increasing  strength,  their  dangerous 
doctrine  which  threatened  the  government, 
although  it  claimed  to  be  but  a  system  of  re- 
ligion, in  which  the  right  of  interference  was 
questionable,  the  agitation  of  the  people  on 
their  account,  the  loss  of  their  leader  by  violence 
and  at  last  their  removal  from  the  state  make 
Gov.  Ford's  administration  conspicuous. 

Mob  law  in  different  parts  of  the  state  marks  this 
time.  The  State  was  redistricted  in  1843,  giving 
seven  Congressmen.  Joseph  Smith  was  killed  by 
mob  while  in  jail  at  Carthage,  June  27,  1844. 

Massac  county  (from  Pope  and  Johnson), 
Moultrie  (from  Shelby  and  Macon) ,  Cumberland 
(from  Coles)  and  Pulaski  (from  Johnson  and 


202  THOMAS  FORD 

Alexander)  counties,  were  created  and  given 
their  present  boundaries  during  Gov.  Ford's 
administration. 


NOTES  AND  EXPLANATIONS 

Page  199      *See  page  142 


AUGUSTUS  C.  FRENCH,  1847-1853. 

AUGUSTUS  C.  FRENCH,  the  ninth  gov- 
ernor of  Illinois,  was  the  first  one  to  fill 
that  office  as  a  native  New  Englander. 
He  was  born  in  the  town  of  Hill,  New  Hamp- 
shire, coming  from  early  New  England  stock, 
being  a  descendant  in  the  fourth  generation 
from  Nathaniel  French,  who  emigrated  from 
England  and  settled  in  Saybury,  Mass.,  in  1687. 
He  was  the  oldest  of  six  children  and  at  the  age 
of  nineteen,  when  his  mother  died  and  left  the 
younger  ones  to  his  care,  he  discharged  his 
trust  faithfully.  Besides  this  common  school, 
he  attended  Dartmouth  College,  but  because 
of  this  care  of  his  brothers  and  sister,  he 
could  not  remain  long  enough  to  complete 
the  course.  He  read  law  and  was  admitted 
to  the  bar,  shortly  after  which  time  he  moved 
to  Albion,  Edwards  County,  Illinois. 

The  following  year  he  moved  to  Paris,  Edgar 
County,  which  county  he  represented  in  the 
State  Legislature  where  he  was  thrown  with 
Stephen  A.  Douglas,  with  whom  a  warm 
attachment  was  soon  formed.  In  1839,  Mr. 
French  was  appointed  receiver  of  the  United 

203 


204  GOVERNORS  OF  ILLINOIS 

States  land  office  at  Palestine,  Crawford 
County.  In  1844,  he  was  a  Presidential  Elector 
voting  for  James  H.  Polk. 

He  was  elected  governor  of  Illinois  in  1846. 
By  the  new  constitution  of  1848,  a  new  election 
of  state  officers  was  ordered  to  be  held  in 
November  of  that  year,  at  which  time  Gov. 
French  was  re-elected  for  a  term  of  four  years, 
thus  making  his  term  of  office  six  consecutive 
years. 

Gov.  French  was  a  man  of  medium  height, 
squarely  built,  with  light  complexion.  His 
face  was  ruddy  and  his  countenance  pleasing. 
He  was,  generally  speaking,  diffident  in  manner 
but  he  could  speak  out  his  convictions  when 
duty  demanded.  He  was  an  accurate  and 
methodical  business  man,  and  made  a  personal 
trust  of  the  affairs  of  the  state.  He  filled  the 
chair  in  law  at  McKendree  College  after  his 
term  as  governor  expired.  He  died  at  Lebanon, 
St.  Clair  County,  in  1865. 

It  was  during  the  administration  of  Gov. 
French  that  the  Mexican  war  closed.  His 
party  held  the  policy  committed  to  that  war. 

During  his  term  of  office  in  1847,  the  State 
Legislature,  by  permission  of  Congress,  declared 
that  all  government  lands  sold  to  settlers 
should  be  immediately  subjected  to  state 


AUGUSTUS  C.  FRENCH  205 

taxation  and  not  be,  as  hitherto,  exempt  for 
five  years.  The  settlements  of  the  state  were 
greatly  increased  by  the  distribution  of  govern- 
ment land  warrants  among  the  Mexican  soldiers 
as  bounty.  The  same  Legislature  authorized 
the  sale  of  the  Northern  Cross  R.  R.  The 
governor  also  authorized  the  sale  of  the  salt 
wells  and  canal  lands  in  the  Saline  reserve  in 
Gallatin  County,  to  apply  on  the  state  debt. 
This  raised  the  state  revenue  to  the  point  of 
meeting  current  demands. 

Two  years  later  the  Legislature  adopted  the 
township  organization  law,  and  when  it  proved 
defective  amended  it  the  following  session  so 
as  to  be  satisfactory.  This  was  a  triumph  to 
the  sentiment  of  northern  Illinois. 

In  1850,  Congress  granted  nearly  3,000,000 
acres  of  land  in  aid  to  the  completion  of  the 
Illinois  Central  R.  R.  This  was  a  very  im- 
portant event  in  the  history  of  Illinois.  The 
institution  for  the  blind  was  chartered  during 
the  administration  of  Gov.  French. 

Saline  county,  created  from  Gallatin  during 
Gov.  French's  term  of  office,  was  given  its 
present  boundaries  and  territory  was  added  to 
Hardin  county  at  same  session  of  the  legislature. 


JOEL  A.  MATTESON  —  1853-1856. 

JOEL  A.  MATTESON,  the  tenth  Governor  of 
Illinois,  was  born  in  Jefferson  County,  New 
York,  August  8,  1808.  He  was  the  first 
man  to  fill  that  office  whose  home  was  not  in  the 
southern  part  of  Illinois. 

He  had  but  a  common  school  education,  and 
early  left  his  father's  farm  making  a  tour  of  the 
south,  working  on  railroads,  at  the  Georgia 
gold  diggings  and  elsewhere,  returning  by  way 
of  St.  Louis  through  Illinois  to  his  father's  home. 
After  his  father's  small  farm  came  into  his 
possession,  he  sold  it  and  entered  a  claim  on 
Government  land  near  the  head  of  Au  Sable 
River,  in  what  is  now  Kendall  County,  Illinois. 
There  were  not  more  than  three  or  four  houses 
between  him  and  Chicago.  Here  he  opened  a 
large  farm  and  two  years  later  bought  largely 
at  the  Government  land  sales.  When  the  next 
year  the  speculative  real  estate  mania  broke 
out  in  Chicago  and  spread  over  the  state,  he 
sold  all  his  land  at  a  great  profit  and  moved  to 
Joliet. 

He  wras  a  heavy  contractor  on  the  Illinois  and 
Michigan  Canal  from  1838-41,  when  he  bought 

206 


JOEL  A.  MATTESON  207 

the  700  tons  of  railroad  iron  the  state  offered  at 
a  bargain,  and  selling  it,  made  much  money. 
He  then  started  a  woolen  mill  at  Joliet,  which, 
too,  proved  to  be  a  valuable  investment. 

In  1842  he  was  elected  a  state  senator, 
where,  because  of  his  being  known  as  a  business 
man  of  such  great  discretion,  he  was  made 
chairman  of  the  committee  on  finance,  which 
position  he  held  during  the  two  and  a  half  terms 
of  his  place  in  the  Legislature.  He  was  elected 
governor  of  Illinois  on  the  Democratic  ticket  in 
1852.  His  candidacy  for  the  United  States 
senatorship  in  1854,  unexpected  as  it  was,  so 
complicated  matters  as  to  defeat  Lincoln  and 
elect  Lyman  Trumbull.* 

A  heavy  disgrace  has  always  been  attached 
to  his  name  because  of  the  fact  that  he  was  im- 
plicated in  a  false  re-issue  of  redeemed  canal 
scrip  amounting  to  $224,182.66.  He  would 
never  offer  an  explanation  although  he  volun- 
tarily turned  over  his  property  to,  as  far  as 
possible,  refund  the  amount. f 

Ex-Gov.  Matteson  died  in  the  winter  of 
1872-73  at  Chicago.  His  administration  was 
marked  by  success  in  physical  development  and 
advancement  of  the  state  in  its  increase  of 
commercial  and  business  enterprise.  The  re- 
peal of  the  Missouri  Compromise  and  the  pass- 


208  GOVERNORS  OF  ILLINOIS 

age  of  the  Nebraska  Bill  occurred  during  the 
time  of  the  administration  of  Gov.  Matteson. 
The  election  of  Lyman  Trumbull,*  the  organi- 
zation of  the  Anti-Nebraska  Press  and  Party  t 
and  the  Bloomington  Convention:}:  all  were 
important  events  of  his  term  of  office.  The 
first  state  fair  was  held  at  Springfield  in  1853. 
Ninian  Edwards  was  appointed  first  state 
superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  in  1854, 
and  the  General  Education  Act,  the  basis  for  the 
present  school  system  was  had  in  1855.  All  of 
these  dates  come  within  the  administration  of 
Gov.  Matteson. 

Kankakee  county,  with  very  nearly  present 
boundaries  was  created  from  Iroquois  and  Will 
counties  in  1856.  The  act  creating  Kankakee 
reduced  Iroquois  and  Will  to  present  limits. 


NOTES  AND  EXPLANATIONS 

Page  207      *See  page  155. 

fBy  a  suit  in  the  Sangamon  circuit  court  the 
state  recovered  the  principal  and  all  the  interest 
excepting  $27,500. 
Page  208      *  See  page  157. 
t  See  page  157. 
JSee  page  157. 


WILLIAM  H.  BISSELL— 1857-1860. 

WILLIAM  H.  BISSELL,  the  eleventh 
governor  of  Illinois,  was,  at  the  same 
time,  the  first  man  to  fill  that  office 
elected  upon  any  other  than  the  Democratic 
ticket.  He  was  born  April  25,  1811,  near 
Painted  Post,  New  York.  Here  he  received  a 
limited  education  and  later  studied  medicine. 

In  his  early  manhood,  he  was  attracted  to 
the  west,  and  coming  to  Illinois,  located  in 
Monroe  County.  But  he  was  not  an  enthusias- 
tic practitioner,  and  early  neglected  his  pro- 
fession that  he  might  exercise  the  singular 
power  of  public  speech  which  he  developed. 
Drifting  into  politics  he  was  sent  to  the  Legis- 
lature from  Monroe  County  as  a  Democrat,  in 
1840. 

Returning,  he  read  law  and  rapidly  rose  in 
that  profession  on  account  of  his  power  as  an 
advocate.  He  carried  every  jury.  He  had  a 
captivating  oratory.  His  diction  was  pure,  his 
gestures  inimitable  and  expressive,  with  all  of 
which  he  had  a  clearness  of  statement  and 
remarkable  vein  of  sly  humor.  He  was  chosen 
prosecuting  attorney  for  the  circuit  in  which  he 

(14)  209 


210     •  GOVERNORS  OF  ILLINOIS 

lived,  and  he  seldom  failed  to  convict  an  of- 
fender. 

He  was  colonel  of  the  Second  Illinois,  in  the 
war  with  Mexico,  acquitting  himself  with  great 
credit.  Upon  his  return  at  the  close  of  the  war, 
he  was  elected  to  Congress,  where  he  served 
two  terms.  He  was  an  ardent  politician  and 
vigorously  opposed  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri 
Compromise  and  the  Kansas-Nebraska  Bill. 
During  his  first  term  in  Congress,  Jefferson 
Davis  challenged  him  to  a  duel,  which  Col. 
Bissell  accepted.  This  was  because  Col.  Bis- 
sell  was  defending  the  Northern  troops  when 
Jefferson  Davis  was  claiming  all  the  credit  for 
success  at  Buena  Vista  to  be  given  the  Missis- 
sippi troops. 

In  1856,  when  the  "Anti-Nebraska"  press 
called  the  convention  at  Bloomington  to  nomi- 
nate a  state  ticket,*  it  was  a  foregone  con- 
clusion that  it  must  be  headed  by  the  name  of 
William  H.  Bissell.  The  election  of  this  ticket 
put  the  state  under  control  of  the  new  party, 
thenceforth,  to  be  known  as  the  Republican 
Party,  but  as  yet  in  Illinois,  called  the  Anti- 
Nebraska  Party,  f 

Governor  Bissell  was  a  man  of  commanding 


WILLIAM  H.  BISSELL  211 

presence.  He  was  tall  and  slender,  dark  of 
complexion,  with  a  well-poised  head.  His 
straight  military  bearing  made  him  distin- 
guished in  appearance.  He  had  a  pleasing  ad- 
dress and  winning  manner.  His  habits  were 
exemplary,  and  his  home  life  always  pleasant, 
he  being  a  devoted  husband  and  a  kind  parent. 
He  was  twice  married.  His  second  wife  was  a 
daughter  of  Elias  Kent  Kane.  He  died  during 
his  term  of  office,  March  18,  1860. 

The  events  of  importance  during  the  ad- 
ministration of  Gov.  Bissell  were :  The  bringing 
to  light  of  the  notorious  canal  scrip  fraud  im- 
plicating Ex-Gov.  Matteson*  and  the  Lincoln- 
Douglas  debates,  t  There  were  two  attempts 
at  re-apportionment  of  the  state,  both  of  which 
were  lost  by  the  vote  of  the  chief  executive. 
The  state  penitentiary  at  Joliet  was  built. 
The  State  Board  of  Education  was  created  and 
the  State  Normal  School  at  Normal  was  es- 
tablished, during  this  administration. 

Two  new  counties  were  created  during  Gov. 
Bissell's  administration.  Douglas  county  was 
created  from  Coles  with  present  boundaries, 
and  Coles  was  reduced  to  present  limits.  Ford 
county  was  formed  with  present  boundaries  from 


212  GOVERNORS  OF  ILLINOIS 

unorganized  territory  which  had  been  attached 
to  Vermilion.  Ford  County  was  the  last  county 
to  be  formed. 


NOTES  AND  EXPLANATIONS 

Page  2 10      *See  page  157. 

tSeepage  158. 
Page  211      *See  sketch  of  Gov.  Matteson. 

fSee  Sixth  Decisive  Date. 


JOHN  WOOD  — 1860-1861. 

THE  death  of  Gov.  Bissell  made  John 
Wood  the  twelfth  governor  of  Illinois. 
John  Wood  was  a  native  of  New  York 
State,  being  born  at  Moravia,  Cayuga  County, 
N.  Y.,  December  20,  1798.  He  was  the  second 
child  and  only  son  of  Dr.  Daniel  Wood,  a  learned 
and  skillful  physician. 

John  Wood  left  home  when  he  was  twenty 
years  old,  going  to  Cincinnati,  where  he  spent 
the  winter.  The  following  summer  he  came 
down  the  river  to  Shawneetown,  and  thence 
into  Calhoun  County,  where  he  spent  the  fall 
and  winter.  Thence  he  went  to  Pike  County 
and  lived  on  a  farm  for  two  years. 

In  1821,  he  visited  the  site  of  the  present  city 
of  Quincy,  then  uninhabited,  and  after  buying 
a  quarter-section  of  land  near  by,  put  up  a 
small  cabin  18x20  feet,  the  first  building  in 
Quincy.  He  was  identified  with  the  life  of 
Quincy  from  its  very  beginning,  He  was  one 
of  the  early  town  trustees,  often  a  member  of 
the  city  council,  and  many  times  mayor. 

In  1850,  he  was  elected  to  the  state  senate. 
In  1856,  he  was  a  prominent  Anti-Nebraska  Bill 

213 


214  GOVERNORS  OFTILLINOIS 

advocate,  and  as  such  was  chosen  lieutenant- 
governor  on  the  ticket  with  Wm.  Bissell  for 
governor.  In  1861,  Ex-Gov.  Wood  was  one  of 
the  five  delegates  from  Illinois  to  the  Peace 
Convention  at  Washington,  and  in  April  of  the 
same  year  at  the  breaking  out  of  the  Rebellion, 
he  was  appointed  quartermaster-general  of  the 
state,  which  position  he  held  throughout  the 
war.  In  1864,  he  took  command  as  colonel  of 
the  137th  111.  Vol.  Inf.  with  whom  he  served 
as  long  as  the  war  lasted. 

Gov.  Wood  died  June  4,  1880,  at  his  residence 
in  Quincy.  Lincoln  was  nominated  at  the 
National  Republican  Convention  held  at  Chi- 
cago, May  18,  1860. 


RICHARD  YATES  — 1861-1865. 

RICHARD  YATES,  the  thirteenth  gov- 
ernor of  Illinois,  was  a  native  of  Kentucky. 
He  was  born  on  the  banks  of  the  Ohio 
River  at  Warsaw,  Gallatin  Co.,  Ky.,  January 
18,  1818.  His  father  moved  to  Sangamon 
County,  Illinois,  in  1831.  Richard  Yates  at- 
tended school  at  Illinois  College,  Jacksonville, 
and  there  imbibed  the  strong  doctrine  of  in- 
dividual rights  to  liberty  which  was  taught  by 
the  staunch  patriots  who  formed  the  faculty. 
He  graduated  in  1837,  with  first  honors.  He 
studied  law,  and,  gifted  as  he  was  with  fluent 
and  ready  speech,  he  soon  became  a  favorite 
in  political  meetings.  He  was  an  ardent  ad- 
mirer of  Henry  Clay  and  as  such  became  a 
strong  advocate  of  the  Whig  doctrine. 

The  exciting  campaign  for  Harrison  and 
Tyler  received  his  earnest  support.  Two  years 
later  he  was  elected  to  the  Legislature  from 
Morgan  County,  although  it  was  a  stronghold 
of  the  Democrats.  He  served  his  state  until, 
in  1850,  his  large  Congressional  district  sent 
him  to  Congress.  He  was  returned  and  it  was 
at  this  second  term  in  Congress  that  the  repeal 

215 


216  GOVERNORS  OF  ILLINOIS 

of  the  Missouri  Compromise,  which  he  earnestly 
opposed,  brought  him  into  identification  with 
the  rising  Republican  Party.  This  lessened 
his  popularity  in  his  district,  which  was  strongly 
Democratic. 

The  Republican  State  Convention  which 
met  at  Decatur,  May  9,  1860,  nominated 
Richard  Yates  for  governor,  and  he  was  duly 
elected. 

The  ensuing  four  years  were  serious  years  in 
every  state.  The  life  struggle  of  the  nation 
turned  upon  the  loyalty  of  the  states.  Gov. 
Yates  realized  the  situation,  and  was  firm  in 
upholding  the  government,  wise  in  using  his 
popularity  to  lead  the  people  of  the  state,  and, 
withal,  well  deserved  the  title  of  the  "Soldiers' 
Friend."  Immediately  after  the  battle  of 
Shiloh  he,  himself,  went  to  the  battlefield  and 
cared  for  the  wounded  and  disabled,  arranging 
comforts  for  them  and  bringing  them  by  boat- 
loads to  hastily-established  hospitals  in  the 
North.  His  special  message  in  1863  to  the 
Democratic  Legislature,  pleading  for  material 
aid  for  the  sick  and  wounded  Illinois  soldiers, 
was  a  masterpiece  of  noble  sentiment  ex- 
pressed in  a  most  tactful  way. 

Gov.  Yates  was  deservedly  popular.  He 
was  erect  and  symmetrical  in  person,  always 


RICHARD  YATES  217 

winning  friends  because  of  his  prepossessing 
appearance  and  magnetic  nature,  together 
with  his  scholarly  and  captivating  manner  of 
speaking.  His  hearers  could  never  tell  why 
they  were  transported,  but  such  was  always 
the  case.  He  was  social  and  convivial.  In 
March,  1873,  Gov.  Yates  was  appointed  govern- 
ment director  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad 
in  which  office  he  continued  until  his  death  in 
St.  Louis,  Mo.,  the  27th  day  of  the  following 
November. 

Illinois  has  the  distinction  of  sending  the 
first  volunteer  soldier  to  the  Civil  War.  This 
was  George  Wheeler,  who  enlisted  at  Elgin.  The 
entire  number  of  soldiers  from  the  state  reached 
about  200,000. 

The  administration  of  Gov.  Yates  was  marked 
with  few  events  of  local  civil  character  although 
there  were  many  partisan  quarrels  of  great 
bitterness.  The  Knights  of  the  Golden  Circle 
gave  much  annoyance.  Another  source  of 
anxiety  was  the  riot  in  Fulton  County.  Again 
there  was  the  attempted  suppression  of  the 
Chicago  Times  and  the  usurping  State  Con- 
stitutional Convention. 

In  1863,  Gov.  Yates  astonished  the  Demo- 
crats by  proroguing  their  Legislature.  This 
body  after  a  recess  met  June  2,  and  began 


218  GOVERNORS  OF  ILLINOIS 

wasting  time  upon  various  partisan  resolutions. 
While  the  two  houses  were  disagreeing  upon  the 
question  of  adjourning  sine  die,  the  governor 
took  advantage  of  his  authority  and  adjourned 
them  to  the  "Saturday  next  preceding  the  first 
Monday  in  January,  1865."  The  supreme 
court  sustained  his  action. 

The  death  of  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  June  3, 
1861,  in  Chicago,  conies  within  this  adminis- 
tration. John  A.  Logan  resigned  his  seat  in 
Congress  in  August,  1861,  to  take  a  regiment 
into  battle.  There  was  no  more  brave  nor 
beloved  man  in  the  whole  army  than  Gen. 
Logan.  U.  S.  Grant  took  command  at  Cairo, 
Sept.  4,  1861.  During  the  autumn  of  1864, 
a  conspiracy  for  the  liberating  of  the  prisoners 
of  war  at  Camp  Douglas,  the  burning  of  the 
city,  and  the  inauguration  of  rebellion  in  the 
north  was  discovered  and  punished. 


RICHARD  J.  OGLESBY — 1865-1868. 

RICHARD  J.  OGLESBY,  the  fourteenth 
governor  of  Illinois,  was  born  in  Old- 
ham  County,  Ky.  He  was  left  an  or- 
phan when  but  eight  years  old.  His  uncle  who 
had  the  care  of  him,  apprenticed  him  to  be  a 
carpenter  and  he  was  working  at  that  trade 
when  but  ten  and  a  half  years  old.  When  he 
was  twelve  years  old  his  uncle  moved  to  De- 
catur,  Illinois,  and  took  Richard  with  him. 
In  1844,  Richard  Oglesby  commenced  the  study 
of  law,  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  the  follow- 
ing year,  and  began  the  practice  of  his  profession 
at  Sullivan. 

Mr.  Oglesby  volunteered  in  the  war  with 
Mexico  in  June,  1846,  and  was  elected  first 
lieutenant  of  Company  C,  4th  Illinois  Regiment, 
and  took  part  in  the  battles  of  Vera  Cruz  and 
Cerro  Gordo.  On  his  return  he  began  further 
pursuit  of  his  Law  studies  by  attendance  upon 
a  course  of  lectures  at  Louisville,  Ky.,  but  the 
"California  Gold  Fever"  broke  out,  and  1849 
saw  him  crossing  the  plains  to  the  new  Eldorado. 

In  1852,  he  returned  to  Macon  County  and 
was  put  upon  the  presidential  ticket  as  an 

219 


220  GOVERNORS  OF  ILLINOIS 

elector.  Four  years  later  he  was  absent 
twenty  months  visiting  Europe,  Asia  and 
Africa.  Upon  his  return  in  1858,  he  ran  for 
Congress,  but  was  defeated.  In  1860  he  was 
elected  to  the  Illinois  senate. 

The  following  spring,  when  the  war  had 
begun  in  earnest,  he  quickly  responded  to  the 
call  for  volunteers.  The  extra  session  of  the 
Legislature  elected  him  Colonel  of  the  Eighth 
Illinois  Infantry.  In  April,  after  having  been 
stationed  at  Bird's  Point,  Cairo,  he  was  pro- 
moted brigadier-general.  At  Fort  Donelson, 
his  brigade  was  in  the  van,  being  stationed  to 
the  right  of  General  Grant's  army.  It  was 
the  first  brigade  to  be  attacked.  He  lost  500 
men  before  reinforcements  arrived,  many  of 
whom  were  from  Macon  County.  He  was 
carried  from  the  field  at  the  battle  of  Corinth 
with  a  bullet  in  his  body,  which  he  carried  to 
the  day  of  his  death. 

In  1863,  he  was  assigned  to  the  command  of 
the  16th  army  corps  but  because  of  the  effect 
of  his  wound,  he  gave  up  this  command.  Gen. 
Grant  refused  to  accept  his  resignation,  however, 
and  the  following  December  Oglesby  was  de- 
tailed to  court  martial  and  try  the  surgeon- 
general  of  the  army,  at  Washington,  where  he 


RICHARD  J.  OGLESBY  221 

remained  until  May,  1864,  when  he  returned 
home. 

He  was  elected  governor  of  Illinois  in  the 
following  fall  election.  He  was  twice  after 
this  elected  to  the  same  office. 

Gov.  Oglesby,  or  "Dick  Oglesby"  as  his  loving 
friends  delighted  in  calling  him,  was  a  fine 
appearing,  affable  man  with  regular,  well- 
defined  features,  and  a  rotund  face.  He  was 
a  little  above  medium  height,  large  of  frame  and 
inclined  to  put  on  flesh.  He  was  outspoken, 
ardent  in  feeling,  and  first,  last,  and  every  time 
a  devoted  republican.  His  bluff  manner  and 
speech  attracted  his  admirers  and  his  jovial 
disposition  and  general  liberal  attitude  saved 
him  from  the  hatred  of  those  opposing  him. 
He  was  an  effective  stump-speaker.  He  died 
at  Elkhart,  111.,  April  24,  1899. 

The  events  of  prominence  of  the  first  term 
of  Gov.  Oglesby  were  the  election  of  Ex-Gov. 
Yates  to  the  United  States  Senate,  and  the 
ratification  of  the  13th  Amendment  to  the  Con- 
stitution. The  Legislature  repealed  the  last 
of  the  famous  Black  Laws  which  long  ago  had 
been  but  a  dead  letter  on  the  statutes.  Several 
bills  were  passed  over  the  governor's  veto. 
Contests  over  the  location  of  the  industrial 
college,  the  capitol,  the  southern  penitentiary, 


222  GOVERNORS  OF  ILLINOIS 

as  well  as  the  canal  enlargement  and  the  Illi- 
nois River  improvements,  were  bitter  and  all- 
absorbing.  The  asylum  for  the  feebleminded 
was  located  at  Jacksonville  in  1865.  The 
Soldiers'  Orphans'  home  at  Normal  was  estab- 
lished the  same  year.  Abraham  Lincoln  was 
assassinated  April  14,  1865.  His  burial  at 
Springfield  occurred  May  5,  1865.  The  state 
reformatory  at  Pontiac  was  established  in 
1867,  also  the  office  of  state  entomologist. 


JOHN  M.  PALMER— 1869-1873. 

JOHN  M.  PALMER,  the  fifteenth  governor 
of  Illinois,  was  a  native  of  Kentucky.  He 
was  born  at  Eagle  Creek,  Scott  Co.,  Ky., 
September  13,  1817.  His  father,  an  ardent 
Jackson  man,  held  strong  anti-slavery  senti- 
ments. These  he  impressed  upon  his  children. 
In  1831,  he  emigrated  with  his  family  to  Illinois, 
settling  in  Madison  County,  where  he  lived  on 
a  farm  for  about  two  years,  with  his  wife  and 
children.  At  this  time  the  death  of  the  wife 
and  mother  broke  up  the  family. 

It  was  about  this  time  that  Alton  College 
was  opened  on  the  "manual  labor"  system, 
and  young  Palmer  with  his  brother  Elihu 
entered.  They  remained  there  eighteen  months. 
After  this  John  M.  Palmer  tried  various  pur- 
suits, among  them  the  cooper's  trade,  peddling, 
and  school-teaching.  But  he  had  not  yet 
found  his  calling. 

When  he  had  but  reached  the  age  of  twenty- 
one,  he  first  met  Stephen  A.  Douglas  and  came 
under  the  spell  of  his  personality.  Young, 
ardent,  and  in  political  accord  with  the  "Little 
Giant,"  young  Palmer  found  his  ambition  fired 

223 


224  GOVERNORS  OF  ILLINOIS 

and  his  purpose  in  life  fixed.  The  winter 
following  this  first  meeting  with  Douglas, 
whose  leadership  he  was  to  follow  for  more 
than  thirty-five  years,  Palmer  was  teaching 
school  near  Canton  and  began  to  read  law. 

A  little  later  he  made  his  home  with  his  elder 
brother  at  Carlinville,  continued  his  law  studies, 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  and  practiced  in  the 
courts  there. 

He  became  interested  in  local  politics  and  in 
1843  was  elected  probate  judge.  Two  years 
later  he  was  chosen  a  member  of  the  State  Con- 
stitutional Convention  where  he  was  active  and 
influential.  At  the  age  of  thirty-five  he  served 
his  first  term  in  the  state  senate.  Here  he  took 
a  firm  stand  on  the  slavery  question,  vigorously 
opposing  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise. 
The  Nebraska  question  soon  became  a  party 
issue  and  this  man  proved  himself  true  to  senti- 
ments which  were  his  as  an  inheritance  from  his 
father.  He  refused  a  renomination  to  the  state 
senate  by  the  Democratic  Party.  Regretting 
this  necessary  break  with  his  party  he  yet  ac- 
cepted the  nomination  for  the  state  senator- 
ship  by  the  Anti-Nebraska  Democrats  and  was 
elected.  The  following  winter,  Palmer  put 
Lyman  Trumbull  in  nomination  for  United 
States  Senator  to  succeed  Senator  Shields  and 


JOHN  M.  PALMER  225 

he  was  one  of  the  five  men  who  remained  stead- 
fast, voting  for  him  until  the  unexpected  can- 
didacy of  Gov.  Matteson,who  was  an  uncompro- 
mising pro-slavery  man,  caused  Abraham  Lin- 
coln to  turn  his  support  among  the  Whigs  to 
Trumbull,  and  he  was  elected.  Trumbull,  like 
Palmer,  was  a  Democrat  who  had  espoused 
the  new  Anti-Nebraska  Party.  Two  years 
later  Palmer  was  conspicuous  in  the  forma- 
tion of  the  new  party,  being  chairman  of  the 
Anti-Nebraska  Convention  at  Bloomington. 
A  year  later  he  was  Republican  elector  for  the 
state  at  large.  He  was  one  of  the  five  Republi- 
can delegates  representing  Illinois  at  the  Peace 
Congress  in  Washington. 

Entering  the  army  when  the  war  broke  out, 
he  was  made  colonel  of  the  14th  Illinois  Volun- 
teer Infantry.  He  was  in  a  number  of  im- 
portant engagements.  At  Stone  River,  he 
stood  like  a  rock  and  for  his  gallantry  was  made 
major  general.  He  rendered  valiant  service  at 
Chickamaugua.  He  took  part  in  the  Atlanta 
campaign  under  Sherman,  and  his  prudence  at 
Peach  Tree  Creek  has  become  an  historical  re- 
cord as  having  averted  disaster.  His  service  as 
military  governor  of  Kentucky  shows  great  tact. 

General  Palmer  was  nominated  for  governor 
of  Illinois  at  the  Republican  State  Convention, 

(15) 


226  GOVERNORS  OF  ILLINOIS 

at  Peoria,  May  6,  1868,  in  spite  of  his  persistent 
declaration  that  he  did  not  want  the  office.  He 
gave  an  administration  which  was  clean  and 
worthy  the  man. 

Governor  Palmer  was  a  statesman  and  a 
patriot.  When,  because  of  certain  unjust 
criticism  and,  perhaps,  natural  affection  for 
first  political  affiliation,  the  Republican  Party 
lost  his  support,  it  was  indeed  a  misfortune  to  it. 

Governor  Palmer  was  a  lawyer  with  a  clear 
insight  and  rare  appreciation  of  his  profession. 
This  was  shown  by  the  vetoes  of  a  number  of 
the  bills  passed  by  the  Legislature  during  his 
administration.  Although  these  became  laws 
over  his  veto,  their  weakness  have  since  proved 
the  wisdom  of  his  opposition. 

The  new  and  improved  constitution  of  1870 
was  adopted  during  the  administration  of  Gov- 
ernor Palmer. 

The  great  Chicago  Fire  occurred  during  his 
term  of  office  and  his  prompt  response  to  the  call 
for  help  alleviated  much  suffering. 

In  personal  appearance,  Governor  Palmer 
was  tall,  with  robust  frame  and  ruddy  complex- 
ion. He  was  of  sanguine-nervous  temperament. 
He  was  social  in  disposition,  easy  of  approach, 
and  democratic  in  his  habits  and  manners. 


RICHARD  J.  OGLESBY*  — 1872-1874. 

RICHARD  J.  OGLESBY,*  the  fourteenth 
governor    of    Illinois,  was    elected    the 
sixteenth  governor  in  1872,  with   John 
L.     Beveridge    as    lieutenant-governor.      This 
election  was  to  have  Oglesby  made  an  avail- 
able candidate  for  United  States  Senator.     He 
was  duly  elected  to  the  United  States  Senate 
as  soon   as   the   Legislature  met.      During  his 
short  term  the  state  was  reapportioned,  giving 
nineteen  Congressmen. 

NOTES  AND  EXPLANATIONS 

*See  sketch  of  14th  Governor. 


227 


JOHN  L.  BEVERIDGE — 1873-1877. 

JOHN   L.    BEVERIDGE,   the    seventeenth 
governor  of  the  state,  was    born  in    the 
town  of  Greenwich,  Washington  Co.,  N.  Y., 
June  6,  1824.     His  parents  lived  on  a  farm  and 
could  give  him  but  a  limited  common  school 
education.     They   came  "west"  when  he   was 
in  his  eighteenth  year  to  DeKalb  County,  while 
that  section  was  sparsely  settled. 

Here  he  worked  on  the  farm  during  the 
summers  and  taught  school  in  the  winter  until, 
in  the  fall  of  1842,  he  attended  a  term  at  the 
academy  at  Granville,  and  completed  his  aca- 
demic course  at  Rock  River  Seminary  at 
Mount  Morris.  In  the  fall  of  1845,  he  went 
south  and  taught  school  in  Tennessee,  where 
he  read  law  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar.  In 
1849,  he  failed  financially,  and  returned  to 
DeKalb  County  where  he  opened  his  law  office 
in  Sycamore.  Five  years  later  he  moved  to 
Evanston,  and  the  following  year  began  the 
practice  of  law  in  Chicago. 

In  August,  1861,  he  raised  a  company  which 
was  attached  to  the  Eighth  Cavalry,  and  he 
was  soon  promoted  to  be  major.  In  October, 

228 


JOHN  L.  BEVERIDGE  229 

his  regiment  joined  the  Army  of  the  Potomac. 
In  November,  1863,  he  resigned  to  organize 
the  Seventeenth  Cavalry,  of  which  he  was 
made  colonel.  He  participated  in  some  forty 
battles.  He  was  mustered  out  February  6, 
1866,  and  was  bre  vetted  a  brigadier -general. 

He  resumed  his  practice  of  law,  was  elected 
sheriff  of  Cook  County  in  1866,  and  in  Novem- 
ber, 1870,  state  senator.  This  place  he  resigned 
in  1871  to  be  elected  congressman-at-large.  In 
1872  he  was  elected  lieutenant-governor  and 
when  Oglesby  was  elected  to  the  United  States 
Senate  in  1873,  he  became  the  seventeenth 
governor  of  Illinois. 

After  his  term  of  office  expired,  he  became 
a  member  of  the  firm  of  Beveridge  &  Dewey, 
bankers  and  dealers  in  commercial  paper  at 
Chicago,  with  his  home  in  Evanston.  The 
only  public  office  held  afterwards  was  when  he 
served  as  assistant  United  States  treasurer. 

The  principal  events  of  Gov.  Beveridge's 
administration  were:  State  board  of  canal 
commissioners  created,  new  state  house  oc- 
cupied, asylum  for  feebleminded  children 
removed  to  Lincoln.  The  laws  enacted  were: 
Women  allowed  to  hold  offices  under  the 
school  law,  and  the  passing  of  a  bill  preventing 
discrimination  in  railroad  rates. 


SHELBY  M.  CULLOM  — 1876-1880. 

SHELBY    M.    CULLOM,    the    eighteenth 
governor  of  Illinois,  was  born  in  Wayne 
County,  Ky.,  Nov.  22,  1829.     When  but 
one  year  old  his  father  emigrated  with  his  family 
to  Tazewell  County,  Illinois. 

When  Shelby  Cullom  was  19  years  old  he 
entered  the  Rock  River  Seminary  at  Mount 
Morris,  but  the  close  confinement  to  indoor  life 
told  upon  his  physical  strength  and  his  health 
failed.  Upon  recovering  his  health  he  began 
the  study  of  law  under  Abraham  Lincoln,  at 
Springfield.  Lincoln  being  absent  from  his 
office  so  much  of  the  time,  young  Cullom  went 
into  the  office  of  Stuart  Edwards. 

Soon  after  being  admitted  to  the  bar,  he 
was  elected  city  attorney.  He  was  an  elector 
in  1856  on  the  Fillmore  ticket:  was  a  member 
of  the  Illinois  House  in  1856,  1860,  1873  and 
1874,  and  was  speaker  in  1861  and  1873;  was 
a  member  of  the  thirty-ninth,  fortieth  and 
forty-first  Congresses.  He  was  delegate  to  the 
Philadelphia  Convention  in  1872,  and  placed 
Grant  in  nomination.  He  was  chairman  of 
the  Illinois  delegation  to  the  Republican 
National  Convention  of  1884. 

230 


SHELBY  M.  CULLOM  231 

He  was  elected  governor  in  1876.  The 
events  of  his  administration  were:  The  results 
of  the  great  depression  in  financial  circles; 
a  spirit  of  insubordination  which  began  in 
Pittsburg,  Pa.,  and  extended  west  made  a 
great  railroad  strike  in  parts  of  Illinois  strongly 
affecting  all  industrial  interests;  the  creation 
of  the  State  Board  of  Health,  also  the  Appellate 
Courts.  The  constitution  was  amended  so  as 
to  give  the  Legislature  power  to  create  drainage 
districts.  The  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics  and 
Board  of  Fish  Commissioners  were  also  created 
during  the  administration. 


SHELBY  M.  CULLOM  — 1880-1883. 

GOV.    CULLOM    succeeded    himself    by 
re-election  and  became  the  nineteenth 
governor  of  Illinois.    (See  above  sketch.) 
John    M.    Hamilton    was    elected    lieutenant- 
governor   on   the  same  ticket.     Feb.   6,   1883, 
Gov.  Cullom  resigned,  having  been  elected  to 
the  United  States  Senate.     In  1889,  and  again 
in  1895,  and  as  well  in  1901,  he  has  been  re- 
elected  to  the  United  States  Senate.     His  home 
is  in  Springfield. 

The  events  of  his  second  administration 
began  with  the  announcement,  in  his  inaugural 
address,  that  every  cent  of  the  state  debt  had 
had  provision  made  for  it.  The  Republican 
National  Convention  met  at  Chicago  and 
nominated  James  A.  Garfield.  The  Green- 
back National  Convention  met  at  the  same  place 
and  nominated  James  B.  Weaver.  January, 
1881,  the  last  state  bonds  were  called  in. 
The  Board  of  Dental  Examiners  and  Board  of 
Pharmacy  were  created.  Pure  food  legis- 
lation was  an  event  of  1881.  By  a  state  and 
congressional  re -apportionment,  Illinois  ob- 
tained twenty  congressmen. 

232 


JOHN  M.  HAMILTON  — 1883-1885. 

JOHN   MARSHALL   HAMILTON   became 
the   twentieth  governor  of  Illinois,    Feb- 
ruary 6,  1883,  by  reason  of  the  resignation 
of  Gov.  Cullom.     He  was  born  in  Union  County, 
Ohio,   May  28,    1847,  and  with  his  father  he 
came  to  Illinois  in  1854.     When  he  was  sixteen 
years  old  he  enlisted  in  the  army. 

After  the  close  of  the  war  he  took  the  course 
at  Wesleyan  University  at  Delaware,  Ohio, 
whence  he  graduated  in  1868.  He  located 
at  Bloomington,  Illinois,  read  law  and  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar  in  1870.  He  was  elected 
State  Senator  in  1876,  and  was  elected  Presi- 
dent pro  tern  of  the  Senate  in  the  31st  General 
Assembly.  While  a  member  of  the  Senate  he 
was  the  author  of  the  bill  creating  appellate 
courts.  After  his  term  as  governor  had  ex- 
pired, he  moved  to  Chicago  where  he  has  since 
practiced  his  profession. 

The  events  of  his  administration  are,  by 
legislative  acts :  The  creation  of  the  State  Min- 
ing Board  and  the  office  of  Inspector  of  Mines, 
also  the  appropriation  for  the  state  militia,  as 
well  as  the  adoption  of  the  Harper  High- 

233 


234  GOVERNORS  OF  ILLINOIS 

License  Liquor  Law.  In  June,  1884,  the 
Republican  National  Convention  was  held  at 
Chicago.  Gov.  Hamilton  was  a  delegate-at- 
large  to  this  convention.  The  first  choice  of 
the  state  was  John  A.  Logan,  of  Illinois,  the 
second  choice  being  Chester  A.  Arthur.  James 
G.  Elaine  was  nominated.  In  July  the  Demo- 
cratic National  Convention  nominated  Grover 
Cleveland  at  the  same  place. 


RICHARD  J.  OGLESBY  — 1885-1889. 

RICHARD  J.  OGLESBY  was  the  twenty- 
first  governor  of  Illinois.  (See  sketch.) 
The  events  of  this,  his  third  (though  not 
consecutive)  term  were: 

Legislative  Acts  —  Establishment  of  Soldiers' 
and  Sailors'  Home  at  Quincy;  making  Illinois 
Industrial  University  the  University  of  Illinois ; 
the  creation  of  the  offices  of  State  Veterinarian 
and  State  Game  Wardens,  also  of  Live  Stock 
Commission;  and  the  Industrial  Home  for  the 
Blind  at  Chicago;  provisions  for  Arbor  Day,  also 
the  execution  of  the  Chicago  anarchists. 

Labor  troubles  during  this  administration 
were  menacing.  In  March,  1886,  there  was 
a  strike  at  the  McCormick  Harvester  Works; 
in  April,  a  railroad  strike  in  East  St.  Louis, 
and  May  4th,  the  anarchists'  riot  at  Haymarket 
Square  in.  Chicago.  The  trial  and  conviction 
of  the  anarchists  followed. 

The  Republican  National  Convention  at 
Chicago,  1888,  nominated  Benjamin  Harrison 
for  President  of  the  United  States. 


235 


JOSEPH  W.  FIFER— 1888-1892. 

JOSEPH  WILSON  FIFER,  or  better  known 
by  his  host  of  loving  friends  as  "Private 
Joe,"  was  the  twenty- second  governor  of 
Illinois.     He  was  born  in  Stanton,  Va.,  Oct. 
28,  1842.     In  his  youth  he  came  with  his  father 
and  the  other  eight  children  to  McLean  County, 
in  Illinois.     His  education  was  limited  to  the 
district  school. 

When  the  Civil  War  broke  out  he,  at  the  age 
of  twenty,  together  with  his  brother  George, 
walked  a  dozen  miles  barefooted  to  enlist  in 
Company  C,  33rd  Illinois  Infantry.  The  regiment 
was  sent  to  Missouri,  and  later  went  down  to 
Millikin's  Bend,  and  "Private  Joe"  worked  on 
Grant's  famous  ditch  for  some  wreeks.  The 
regiment  then  joined  the  forces  operating 
against  Port  Gibson  and  Vicksburg.  "Private 
Joe"  was  on  guard  duty  in  the  front  ditches 
when  the  flag  of  surrender  was  run  up  on  the 
fourth  of  July,  and  he  stuck  the  bayonet  of 
his  gun  into  the  embankment  and  went  into  the 
city  with  the  vanguard  of  Union  soldiers. 

The  day  following,  the  33d  joined  the  force 
after  Johnson,  and  in  an  assault  at  Jackson, 

236 


JOSEPH  W.  FIFER  237 

Miss.,  "Private  Joe"  fell,  terribly  wounded, 
having  been  shot  completely  through  his  body. 
He  was  thought  to  have  been  mortally  wounded. 
The  surgeons  gave  no  hope  of  his  recovery, 
saying  nothing  but  ice  could  save  his  life  and — 
there  was  no  ice  to  get  nearer  than  fifty  miles 
away !  It  was  through  the  efforts  of  his  brother 
George  that  the  ice  was  procured.  After  a  few 
months  careful  nursing  "Private  Joe"  rejoined 
his  regiment,  for  he  was  determined  to  finish 
the  term  for  which  he  enlisted.  He  was  mus- 
tered out  in  October,  1864. 

He  at  once  entered  the  Illinois  Wesleyan 
University  at  Bloomington,  from  which  school 
he  was  graduated  in  1868.  He  studied  law, 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1869,  and  immedi- 
ately began  practice  in  Bloomington.  He  was 
corporate  counsel  of  Bloomington,  state's  at- 
torney two  terms,  and  was  elected  to  the  State 
Senate  in  1880.  In  1888,  he  was  elected 
governor  on  the  Republican  ticket.  After 
his  term  as  governor,  he  returned  to  the  prac- 
tice of  his  profession  in  Bloomington. 

In  personal  appearance,  Mr.  Fifer  is  tall- 
six  feet — spare,  with  swarthy  complexion,  keen 
black  eyes,  and  quick  motions.  He  is  popular 
wherever  he  goes.  He  is  a  pleasant  speaker 
and  always  wins  friends. 


238  GOVERNORS  OF  ILLINOIS 

The  chief  events  of  the  Fifer  administration 
may  be  briefly  summed  up  as  follows:  Legis- 
lative Acts — Establishing  Asylum  for  Insane 
Criminals  at  Chester;  also  State  Horticultural 
Society  and  Chicago  Sanitary  district ;  a  general 
school  law  with  compulsory  clauses;  Anti- 
trust law,  legal  rate  of  interest  reduced  to  five 
percent:  Child  Labor  Law,  and  the  Australian 
Ballot  System  adopted.  The  World  Columbian 
Exposition  was  decided  upon,  Chicago  selected 
as  the  site  and  special  session  of  the  Legis- 
lature made  provision  for  it.  October  1,  1891, 
Chicago  University  opened.  October  21,  dedi- 
cation of  World's  Fair  Buildings ;  on  November 
25,  1889,  the  Illinois  State  Historical  Society 
was  organized. 


JOHN  P.  ALTGELD  — 1893-1897. 

JOHN    P.    ALTGELD,    the    twenty- third 
governor   of   Illinois,    was   the   first   man 
other  than  a  Republican  who  had   been 
elected  to  this  office  in  forty  years.  Altgeld  was 
a  native  of  Prussia,   having  been  born  there 
in    1848.     His    father    emigrated    to    America 
when  he  was  a  lad,  and  settled  on  a  farm  near 
Mansfield,  Ohio. 

At  the  age  of  sixteen  young  Altgeld  enlisted 
in  the  163d  Ohio  Infantry.  After  the  war  he 
taught  school  and  studied  law.  He  entered 
a  law  office  at  Savannah,  Mo.  In  1874,  he  was 
elected  prosecuting  attorney  of  Andrew  County. 
Two  years  later  he  resigned,  and  moved  to 
Chicago.  He  took  little  interest  in  politics 
for  several  years,  but  in  1884  he  accepted  the 
nomination  for  congress  on  the  Democratic 
ticket,  and  greatly  reduced  the  overwhelming 
Republican  majority.  In  1886,  he  was  elected 
superior  court  judge  of  Cook  County;  he 
resigned  in  1891.  In  1892,  he  was  elected 
Governor,  defeating  Joseph  W.  Fifer  (Rep.) 
in  spite  of  the  fact  of  Fifer's  acceptable  adminis- 
tration. In  1896,  he  was  renominated  for 

239 


240  GOVERNORS  OF  ILLINOIS 

Governor  but  was  defeated  by  John  R.  Tanner 
(Rep.).  Ex-Gov.  Altgeld  died  in  Chicago, 
March  12,  1902. 

The  events  of  his  administration  were: 
Legislative  Acts — Reapportionment  of  State, 
giving  Illinois  twenty-two  congressmen ;  modifi- 
cation of  Edwards  law;  creation  of  the  State 
Insurance  Department ;  State  Board  of  Factory 
Inspectors;  and  State  Home  for  Juvenile 
Female  Offenders;  establishing  of  Eastern 
Normal  School  at  Charleston,  Northern  Normal 
School  at  DeKalb,  Asylum  for  Incurable  Insane 
at  Bartonville,  and  Farmer's  Institutes;  also, 
State  Board  of  Arbitration,  Prison  parole  sys- 
tem adopted,  Municipal  Civil  Service  law. 

June  26,  1892,  Gov.  Altgeld  pardoned  the 
anarchists,  Neebe,  Fielden,  and  Schwab. 
World's  Columbian  Exposition  opened  May 
1st,  closed  October  30th. 

During  Altgeld 's  administration  there  oc- 
curred serious  labor  troubles.  At  the  Pullman 
and  American  Railway  Union  strikes  the  State 
and  Federal  troops  were  called  out.  Gov.  Altgeld 
protested  against  the  use  of  Federal  troops  in 
Chicago. 


JOHN  R.  TANNER— 1897-1901. 

JOHN  R.  TANNER,  the  twenty-fourth 
governor,  was  elected  in  1900.  He  was 
born  on  a  farm  in  Warwick  County, 
Indiana,  April  4,  1844.  The  great  grand- 
father of  John  R.  Tanner  died  in  service  in  the 
War  of  the  Revolution,  the  grandfather  while 
in  the  War  of  1812,  and  his  father  while  in 
service  in  the  War  of  the  Rebellion.  Each  bore 
the  name  of  John  R.  Tanner.  John  R.  Tanner, 
of  the  fourth  generation,  enlisted  in  the  Civil 
War  at  the  age  of  nineteen  in  the  98th  Illinois 
Infantry  and  was  transferred  to  the  61st  and 
served  to  the  end  of  the  war. 

After  the  war,  John  R.  Tanner  took  up  the 
life  of  a  farmer  in  Clay  County.  He  went  into 
politics,  being  elected  sheriff  in  1870,  and  in 
1874,  circuit  clerk  of  Clay  County.  In  1880 
he  was  elected  state  senator,  and  in  1886, 
state  treasurer.  He  was,  for  a  time,  United 
States  marshal  for  the  southern  district  of 
Illinois;  railroad  and  warehouse  commissioner 
under  Gov.  Fifer,  and  assistant  treasurer  at 
the  United  States  Sub-treasury,  Chicago. 

(16)  241 


242  GOVERNORS  OF  ILLINOIS 

In  1896,  he  was  elected  Governor,  defeating 
John  P.  Altgeld  (Dem.)-  The  December  fol- 
lowing, he  married  Miss  Cora  Edith  English  of 
Springfield.  His  term  of  office  expired  in 
January,  1901,  and  he  died  at  Springfield  the 
following  May. 

The  principal  events  of  this  administration 
are  as  follows:  Legislative  Acts — Establish- 
ment of  State  Board  of  Pardons,  State  Board 
of  Examiners  of  Architects,  State  Board  of 
Examiners  of  Horseshoers,  Offices  of  State 
Food  Commissioners,  and  State  Commissioners 
of  Game,  also  the  Juvenile  Court  act,  and  the 
creation  of  Western  Normal  School  at  Macomb. 
Senatorial  and  Congressional  reapportionment 
was  made,  Illinois  securing  twenty-five  con- 
gressmen thereby.  Chicago  Drainage  Canal 
in  operation.  Water  turned  in  January  2,  1900. 

During  his  administration,  a  company,  of 
which  Governor  Tanner  was  one,  purchased 
the  estate  of  Pierre  Menard,  at  Fort  Gage. 
This  later  passed  into  the  hands  of  Mr.  Charles 
Lynn,  who  restored  the  house  and  improved 
the  farm.  This  house,  built  by  the  first  Lieu- 
tenant-Governor  of  the  state,  now  stands  in 
appearance  exactly  as  it  did  in  the  early  years 
of  the  nineteenth  century.  It  has  been  occupied 
by  Mr.  Lynn  for  several  years  and  is,  perhaps, 


JOHN  R.  TANNER  243 

the  only  house  in  the  state  which  represents 
the  varied  life  of  Illinois  from  the  French  colo- 
nial days,  through  the  early  years  of  the  young 
commonwealth  up  to  the  present  time.  As 
such  it  has  been  chosen  as  the  frontispiece  of 
this  volume. 


RICHARD  YATES — 1901-1905. 

RICHARD  YATES,  son  of  the  thirteenth 
governor  of  Illinois,  was  elected  the 
twenty-fifth  governor  in  November, 
1900. 

The  campaign  was  begun  before  his  nomi- 
nation, and  continued  until  his  election  in  a 
spectacular  manner.  His  candidacy  was  urged 
as  an  inheritance  from  his  father,  he  receiving 
support  because  of  the  remembrance  of  the  wise 
administration  of  Yates,  the  War  Governor. 

Richard  Yates  was  the  first  governor  of  the 
state  born  in  Illinois.  He  was  born  in  Jackson- 
ville, 111.,  December  12th,  1860,  was  educated 
as  a  lawyer,  attending  the  Law  School  of  the 
Michigan  University,  afterward  having  a  law 
office  in  Jacksonville.  Since  his  term,  he  has 
resided  in  Jacksonville,  with  his  address  at 
Springfield. 

During  the  administration  of  Governor  Yates, 
the  "little  ballot  law"  and  a  new  primary 
election  law  were  given  the  state.  The  Illinois 
war  claim  of  $1,005,129.29  was  paid  by  the 
United  States.  The  site  of  Fort  Massac  was 
purchased  by  the  state.  The  laws  relating  to 

244 


RICHARD  YATES  245 

child  labor,  employment  offices  and  agencies, 
and  mechanics'  liens  were  revised.  A  board  of 
prison  industries  and  a  good  roads  commis- 
sion were  created.  The  speed  of  automobiles 
was  regulated  by  state  law.  The  constitution 
was  amended  relating  to  charter  of  the  City  of 
Chicago.  Floods  in  Madison  and  St.  Clair 
counties  and  the  Iroquois  theatre  fire  were  great 
disasters  during  the  third  year  of  his  adminis- 
tration. 

The  Republican  national  convention  was 
held  at  Chicago,  June  21-23,  1904,  and  the 
Populist  national  convention  was  held  at 
Springfield,  July  4. 


CHAS.  S.  DENEEN— 1905. 

CHAS.  S.  DENEEN  was  elected  the  twenty- 
sixth  governor  of  Illinois.  He  was  born 
May  4,  1863,  at  Edwardsville,  Illinois. 
He  was  educated  in  the  public  schools  of 
Lebanon  and  at  McKendree  College,  completing 
his  course  at  the  Union  College  of  Law  (now 
Northwestern  Law  School).  He  moved  to 
Chicago  where  he  practiced  his  profession. 

In  the  fall  of  1892,  he  was  elected  a  member 
of  the  Illinois  Legislature;  in  1895,  Attorney 
for  Sanitary  Board;  in  1896,  states  attorney 
for  Cook  County  and  re-elected  in  1900.  He 
was  a  delegate  to  the  National  Republican 
convention  in  1900.  Was  elected  chief  execu- 
tive in  1904,  and  re-elected  in  1908  as  the  twen- 
ty-seventh governor  of  the  state. 

A  bill  passed  the  Legislature  during  the  first 
winter  of  Governor  Deneen's  second  term,  mak- 
ing native  oak  the  state  tree  and  the  wood 
violet  the  state  flower.  This  was  done  on  the 
result  of  a  vote  cast  by  the  school  children  of 
the  state. 

Other  legislative  acts  during  his  adminis- 
trations have  been  as  follows : 

246 


CHAS.  S.  DENEEN  247 

Civil  service  in  state  charitable  institutions; 
general  primary  law;  Saturday  half -holiday  in 
Chicago;  revising  marriage  and  divorce  laws; 
municipal  court  law;  sale  of  gas  and  electricity 
in  Chicago;  state  geological  survey;  revision  of 
laws  relating  to  food,  factory  inspection,  care 
of  insane,  county  detention  houses,  interest  on 
state  money,  motor  vehicles  and  primary 
election.  The  local  option  law  was  passed  and 
a  test  case  resulted  in  it  being  declared  consti- 
tutional. The  constitution  was  amended  relat- 
ing to  deep  waterways. 


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Stevens,  Frank. 

The  Black  Hawk  War.     Chicago,  1903. 
Illinois  in  the  War  of  1812.     Pub.   No.   9,   111. 
State  Hist.  Lib.,  1904. 

Tarbell,  Ida  M. 

The  Life  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  New  York,  Lin- 
coln Hist.  Society,  1902. 

Thwaites,  Reuben  Gold. 

Early  Lead  Mining  in  Illinois  and  Wisconsin. 
American  Hist.  Assn.,  1893. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  257 

Early  Western  Travels.     Cleveland,   1903. 
How  George  Rogers  Clark  won  the  Northwest. 

Chicago,  1903. 
Jesuit  Relations  and  Allied  Documents.     Vols. 

59-60.     Cleveland,  O.,   1896-1901. 

Thompson,  Maurice. 

Stories  of  Indiana.     Chicago,  1898. 
Alice  of  Old  Vincennes.     Chicago. 

Wallace,  Joseph. 

Illinois  and  Louisiana  under  French  Rule.    Cm., 

1893. 

Fort  de  Chartres.     Pub.  No.  8,  Illi.  State  Hist. 
Lib.,  1904. 

Winsor,  Justin. 

Narrative  and  Critical  History  of  America.    Bos- 
ton, 1886. 

The  Mississippi  Basin,  1697-1763.     Boston,  1895. 
The  Western  Movement.     Boston  and  New  York, 
1897. 

W  or  then,  A.  H. 

Geological  Survey  of  Illinois.     8  Vols. 


INDEX 


INDEX 

A. 

Abolitionist,  mentioned,  ISO;  comparatively  few,  154. 
Adams,  Captain,  mentioned,  149. 
Adirondacks,  original  source  of  Algonquins,  60. 
Agricultural  Society,  first  one  wars  founded  by  Gov.  Coles, 

181. 

Albany,  N.  Y.,  69. 
Algonquin,  word  Missi,  33;  great  family  of  Indians  east  of 

Mississippi  River,  59;  original  source  of  the  Adirondacks, 

60. 

Alliances,  Dutch  with  Iroquois,  69. 
Allonez,  Father  Claude,  sent  to  Lake  Superior  region,  19; 

sent  to  mission  at  Kaskaskia,   12;  reports  numbers  of 

native  herbs  and  fruits,  64. 

Altgeld,  Hon.  John  P.,  twenty-third  governor,  239. 
Alton,  Lincoln-Douglas  debate  held  at,  162. 
American  Bottoms  mentioned,  44. 
American  Indian,  origin  of,  13. 
Anarchists,  execution  of,  23 5;  pardoned  by  Gov.  Altgeld, 

240. 

Anti-Nebraska  Bill  mentioned,  206. 
Anti-Nebraska  Party,  mentioned,  157. 

Anti-Slavery,  influences  cited,  149;  sentiment  of,  in  differ- 
ent States,  154. 

Anti-Trust  Law,  established,  238. 
Appellate  Court  established,  231. 
Arbor  Day,  provision  made  for,  235. 
Arkansas  River  nearly  reached,  29. 
Armstrong  Fort,  see  fort. 
Asylum  for  the  Feeble  Minded   located,   222;removed  to 

Lincoln,  229. 

Asylum  for  Insane  Criminals,  established,  238. 
Asylum  for  Incurable  Insane  established,  240. 
Aubrey,  Mons.  de,  commandant  at  Fort  Chartres,  76;  went 

to  rescue  of  Fort  Niagara,  77. 

261 


262  DECISIVE  DATES 

Australian  Ballot  System  adopted,  238. 
Automobiles,  speed  of,  regulated,  243. 

B. 

Bad  Axe,  mention  of,  battle,  149. 
Beveridge,  Hon.  John  L.,  Seventeenth  Governor,  228. 
Birkbeck,  Morris,  mentioned,  150. 

Bissell,  Hon.  Wm.  H.,  candidate  for  governor,  158;  eleventh 
governor,  207. 

Black  Gown,  name  given  Father  Marquette  by  Illini,  27. 

Black  Hawk,  mentioned,  147 ;  war,  150. 

Black  Laws,  reference  to,  271. 

Bloomington  Convention  ,157. 

Board  of  Dental  Examiners,  created  232;  mentioned,  163. 

Board  of  Pharmacy,  created,  232;  mentioned,  206. 

Board  of  Prison  Industries,  243. 

Bond,  Hon.  Shadrack,  first  governor,  173. 

Bond  County,  176. 

Bucklers  of  buffalo  hides,  63. 

Bureau,  of  Fish  Commissioners,  created,  231. 

Bureau  of  Labor  Statistisc,  created,  231. 

Buffalo,  in  country  of  the  Illini,  31. 

British  domination,  mentioned,  88. 

c. 

Cahokia,  a  tribe  of  the  Illini,  62;  court  established  at,  107; 

town  built  in  18th  century,  44. 
Cahokia  Mounds  in  St.  Clair  County,  11. 
Cairo,  founded,  173. 
California,   mouth   of   Mississippi   River  supposed   to   be 

located  in,  20,  29. 
Calumet,  peace  pipe,  25. 
Canal,    see    Illinois    and    Michigan    Canal,    also    Chicago 

Drainage  Canal. 

Carolinas,  settled  Southern  Illinois,  154. 
Carlin,  Hon.  Thos.,  seventh  governor  of  Illinois,  196. 
Cartier,  Jacques,  discovered  St.  Lawrence  River,  15. 
Champlain,    Samuel,   founded    Quebec,    15;   gave   aid   to 

Algonquins,  59. 
Charleston,  Lincoln-Douglas  fourth  debate,  162. 


INDEX  263 

Chartres  Fort,  built  in  early  18th  century,  44;  English 
garrison  took  possession,  87;  refuge  of  Pontiac,  86. 

Chequamegon  Bay,  location  of,  Allonez  Mission,  19. 

Chicago,  drainage  canal  in  operation,  242;  sanitary  dis- 
trict, 238;  saved  to  Illinois,  123;  University  opened,  238. 

Chicago  Fire,  mentioned,  226. 

Child  labor  law,  245. 

Cholera,  Asiatic,  caused  death  of  Gov.  Edwards,  185. 

Christiensen,  built  Fort  Massac,  69. 

Civil  Service,  in  State  charitable  institutions,  243. 

Civil  War,  mentioned,  137. 

Clark,  Fort  (see  fort). 

Clark,  George  Rogers,  established  government  in  Illinois 
territory,  107;  march  to  Kaskaskia,  99;  related  to  Pat- 
rick Henry,  96;  secured  oath  of  Allegiance  from  French, 
101 ;  success  result  of  love  of  Illini  for  French,  65. 

Colbert,  M . ,  minister  of  navy  at  Paris,  2 1 . 

Coles,  Hon.  Edward,  defeated  convention  to  amend  con- 
stitution, 143;  mention  of,  150;  second  governor,  177; 
set  slaves  free,  179. 

Columbian  Exposition,  decided  upon,  238;  opened,  240. 

Constitution,  amended,  231 ;  first  of  Illinois,  141 ;  legislation 
favoring  amendment,  143;  of  1870,  adopted,  226; 
amended,  243-244;  of  the  United  States,  mentioned, 
137. 

Compact  (see  alliance,  see  Jefferson -Lemen  compact.) 

Conquest  of  Northwest  (see  Clark). 

Cook,  Hon.  John  B.,  candidate  for  congress,  142. 

Convention,  Bloomington,  157;  Democratic  National,  234; 
Greenback  National,  232;  Populist  National  at 
Springfield,  243;  Republican  National,  of  1884,  232; 
of  1888,  235;  of  1904,  243. 

Council,  with  Illini,  28. 

Crawford  County  (see  County),  174. 

Creve  Coeur  Fort  (see  Fort). 

Crogham,  George  conference  with  Pontiac,  87;  also  foot- 
note page  90. 

Crozat  M.,  grant  of  land  given,  33. 

County,  organized,  Adams,  182;  Alexander,  176;  Boone, 
196;  Bond,  196;  Bureau,  196;  Calhoun,  182;  Cass,  196; 
Champaign,  191;  Clay,  181;  Clark,  176;  Clinton,  182; 
Coles,  187;  Cook,  187;  Crawford,  174;  Dekalb,  196; 


264  DECISIVE  DATES 

Douglas,  211;  Edgar,  181;  Edwards,  182;  Effingham, 
187;  Ford,  211;  Franklin,  174;  Fulton,  181;  Gallatin, 
174;  Greene,  176;  Hancock,  176;  Henry,  182;  Iroquois, 
191;  Jackson,  174;  Jasper,  187;  Jefferson,  171;  Jo 
Daviess,  187;  Kane,  196;  Knox,  182;  La  Salle,  187; 
Lawrence,  176;  Livingston,  196;  Madison,  174; 
Macon,  187;  Macoupin,  187;  Marion,  181;  Mercer,  182; 
Montgomery,  176;  Morgan,  181;  Monroe,  176;  Mc- 
Donough,  182;  McHenry,  196;  McLean,  187;  Ogle,  196; 
Peoria,  182;  Perry,  187;  Pope,  174;  Pike,  176;  Putnam, 
182;  Randolph,  176;  Rock  Island,  187;  Schuyler,  182; 
Shelby,  187;  Stephenson,  196;  St.  Clair,  176;  Tazewell, 
187;  Union,  174;  Vermilion,  182;  Wabash,  182;  Wash- 
ington, 174-182;  Warren,  182;  Wayne,  182;  White,  176; 
Whiteside,  196;  Will,  196;  Winnebago,  196. 
Cullom,  Hon.  Shelby  M.,  the  eighteenth  governor,  230; 
succeeded  himself,  232. 


D. 

Dablon,  Rev.  Father,  appoints  Marquette  to  accompany 

Joliet,  21. 
Danville,  exploration  of  central  Illinois,  started  from,  128; 

salt  works,  near  to,  129;  Spanish  troops  passed  through, 

112. 

Dearborn,  Fort,  Massacre  at,  113;  rebuilt,  128. 
Delawares,  bound  by  Silver  Covenant  Chain,  71. 
Democratic  National  Convent-ion,  of  1884  (see  convention), 

234. 
De  Sola,  mention  of,  discovery  of  lower  Mississippi  River, 

57. 

Deneen,   Hon.    Chas.   S.,   the   twenty-sixth   and   twenty- 
seventh  governor,  244. 
Detroit,  mention  of  Fort,  86. 
Des  Plaines  River,  La  Salle's  route  into  Illini  country  via, 

41 ;  battle  on,  66. 
de     Villiars,    Jumon,    killed     by    troops    under    George. 

Washington,  75. 

de  Villiars,  Neyon,  defeated  George  Washington,  75. 
Dillon,  Judge  John  B.,  history  of  Indiana,  mentioned,  97. 
Dillons  Grave,  in  Tazewell  county,  129. 
Dixon,  John,  veteran  mail  carrier,  149. 
Doty,  James  D.,  governor  of  Wisconsin,  123. 
Donay,  Rev.  Father,  eulogised  La  Salle,  43. 


INDEX  265 

Douglas,  Hon.  Stephen  A.,  change  in  sentiment,  regarding, 
155 ;  lifelong  friend  of  John  M.  Palmer,  157  ;  called  Little 
Giant,"  159;  contrasted  with  Lincoln,  160;  answered 
question  at  Freeport,  161;  active  when  war  was  de- 
clared (foot  note),  165;  death,  218. 

Douglas-Democrats,  mentioned,  160. 

Duncan,  Hon.  Joseph,  sixth  governor,  192. 

Du  Cogne,  last  chief  of  the  Illini,  66. 

Dutch,  strength  of  English  with  the  Indians  an  inherit- 
ance for  the  Dutch,  68. 

Du  Quesne,  Fort,  French  Fort,  75. 

E. 

East  St.  Louis,  three  miles  south  of  Monks'  Mounds,  1 1. 

Education  Act,  passed  in  1855,  206. 

Edwards,  Ninian,  first  governor  of  Illinois  Territory,  111; 
took  out  State  militia  at  news  of  Fort  Dearborn  mas- 
sacre, 116;  third  governor  of  State,  182. 

Edwards,  Law,  modified,  240. 

Edwardsville ,  mentioned,  116;  home  of  Governor  Coles, 
181. 

Elk-ins,  Jacob,  made  treaty  with  Iroquois,  69. 

English  Colony,  in  Edwards  county,  mentioned,  150. 

Edwards  County  (see  county). 

Erie,  Lake,  discovered  by  Joliet,  21;  strip  ceded  to  Great 
Britian,  68;  route  taken  by  Aubry,  77. 

Eskimo,  Ice  folk  very  much  like,  9. 

Ewing,  William,  Lee  D.,  Governor  from  November  3  to 
November  17,  1834,  191. 

F. 

Farmers'  Institutes  established,  240. 

Fifer,  Hon.  Joseph  W.,  the  twenty-second  governor,  236. 

Ford,  Hon.  Thos.  eighth  governor,  198. 

Fort,  Armstrong,  on  Rock  Island,  147;  Chartres  (see 
Chartres  Fort);  Clark,  now  Peoria,  mentioned,  149; 
Creve  Coeur,  first  fort,  41 ;  burned,  42 ;  Dearborn,  estab- 
lished, 113;  Massacre,  116;  rebuilt,  128;  Du  Quesne, 
built  by  French,  75;  Machault,  mentioned,  77;  Massac, 
Clark's  troops  to  begin  march  from,  98,  243;  Niagara, 
loss  of,  73;  Pitt,  mentioned,  77;  Sackville  (Post  Vin- 
cennes),  101;  St.  Louis,  rock  in  Illinois  River,  42; 


266  DECISIVE  DATES 

Indians  driven  to,  66;  abandoned,  68;  Wayne,  help  to. 

Fort  Dearborn,  114. 

Fox  River,  route  of  Joliet  and  Marquette,  22. 
Franklin  County  (see  county). 
French,  influence  on  Illinois  country,  70. 
French,  Hon.  Agustus  C.,  ninth  governor,  201. 
French,  colonial  life,  45. 
French  Creek,  route  of,  aubry,  77. 
Freeport,  Lincoln-Douglas  Debate,  160. 

G. 

Galesburg,  mention  of,  162. 
Gallat-in  County  (see  county). 
Gauls,  mentioned,  88. 
Gibault,  Rev.  Father,  mentioned,  65  ; 
Good  Roads  Commissioners,  created,  243. 
Government,  of  county  of  Virginia,  108. 
Grant,  U.S.,  mentioned,  218. 
Great  Britian,  Sir.  Wm.  Johnson  made  commissioner  of 

Indian  affairs  by,  71  ;  last  colonies  transferred  to,  85. 
Gulf  of  Mexico,  mouth  of  Mississippi  river,  29. 

H. 

Hamilton,  Gen.,  at  Post  Vincennes,  102. 
Hamilton,  Hon.  John  Marshall,  twentieth  governor,  233. 
Harrison,  Gen.,  governor  of  Indiana  territory,  111. 
Heald,  Captain  Nathan,  commander  at  Fort  Dearborn,  1  14; 

surrendered  Garrison,  116. 

Helm,  Captain,  sent  to  command  at  Post  Vincennes,  101. 
Henry,  Patrick,  relative  of  George  Rogers  Clark,  96. 
Hiawatha,  mentioned,  69. 
High  License  Liquor  Law,  adopted,  233. 
Holland  Dutch,  influence  on  American  institutions  of,  55. 
Hudson,  Henry,  discovery  of  river,  55. 
Hudson  River,  treaty  made  on  banks.  69. 


Ice  Age,  mentioned,  9. 
Ice  People,  mentioned,  9. 


INDEX  267 

Ice  Folk,  mentioned,  13. 

Illini,  hunting  grounds  of,  19;  mentioned  in  letter  from 
Marquette,  20;  mission  among,  promised,  33;  La  Salle 
said  to  have  discovered,  35  ;  tribes  of,  62 ;  excelled  in  use 
of  bow  and  arrow,  63;  became  less  and  less  hardy,  65. 
country  of,  extent,  68;  raids  of  Iroquois  into,  44;  first 
permanent  settlement  in,  42;  confederacy  lost  identity, 
66. 

Illinois,  heart  of  nation,  1 ;  authentic  history  of,  begins,  8; 
people  of,  154;  leader  of  new  political  party  in,  158. 

Illinois-Northern,  hunting  grounds,  113. 

Illinois  country,  coming  of  white  man  to,  65;  had  French 
not  come  to,  70;  province  of  Quebec,  include,  89. 

Illinois  River,  Joliet  and  Marquette  ascended,  8,  30,  35 ;  vil- 
lage of  Kaskaskia  on  north  side  of,  31;  "tribes  as  far 
west  as,"  65 ;  Iroquois  had  driven  them  west  of,  68. 

Illinois  soldiers,  bravery  of,  75. 

Illinois  Territory,  formed  in  1809,  111;  boundary  of,  121. 

Illinois  Central  Railroad,  mention  of,  123;  completion  of, 
203. 

Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal  Association,  incorporated,  181. 

Illinois  College,  founded,  186. 

Immaculate  Conception,  Mission  of,  31. 

Indians,  supposed  origin,  13;  western,  70. 

Indian  Affairs,  commissioner  of,  71. 

Indiana,  mentioned,  68;  territory  bounded,  111. 

Industrial  Home  for  the  Blind,  at  Chicago,  235. 

International  Improvements,  craze  over,  194;  came  to 
an  end,  197. 

Iroquois,   dominated   the   Algonquins,    59;   origin   of,    60; 

frew  warlike,  61;  English  gave  Iroquois  support,  67; 
roquois  drive  Illini  west  of  Illinois  River,  68;  Silver 
Covenant  Chain  held  allegiance  of,  70.  ' 

Inspector  of  Mines,  created,  233. 
Institution  for  the  Blind,  chartered,  203. 
Iroquois  Theatre,  horror,  243. 


J. 

Jackson  County  (see  county). 

Jefferson,  Thos.,  efforts  in  behalf  of  anti-slavery,  150. 

Jefferson-Lemen  Compact,  mentioned,  149. 


268  DECISIVE  DATES 

Jesuit,  led  into  wilderness,  15;  Marquette,  a  devout,  zeal- 
ous, 21. 

Johnny-Cake,  origin  of  name,  130. 

Johnson,  Sir.  Wm.,  commissoner  of  Indian  affairs,  71;.  in- 
formed of  advance  of  Aubry,  77  ;  reports  of  treachery  of 
savages  to  French,  78;  result  had  western  Indians 
refused  to  listen  to,  suggested  attack  on  Fort  Niagara 
(footnote),  79,  80. 

Johnson  County  (see  county). 

Joliet,  mentioned,  8;  mentioned,  14;  commissioned  to  go 
upon  expedition,  21. 

Joliet,  city  of,  mentioned,  66. 

Jonesboro,  third  Lincoln-Douglas  debate,  162. 

Journey-board,  how  used,  130. 

Jumon  de  Villiars,  killed  by  George  Washington's  troops. 
75. 

Juvenile  Court  Act,  passed,  242. 

K. 

Kane,  Elias  Kent,  secretary  of  State  during  Bond's  admin- 
istration, 174. 

Kane  County  (see  county). 

Kankakee  River,  mentioned,  41. 

Kansas,  refugees  from,  157. 

Kaskaskia,  Indian  village,  31;  Marquette's  mission  prom- 
ised, 33;  La  Salle  found  deserted,  41;  near  Fort  St. 
Louis,  42 ;  type  of,  45  ;  report  of  Father  Allonez,  64. 

Kaskaskia  River,  on  the  banks  of ,  99. 

Kaskaskia  Indians, village  of ,  3 1 ;  tribe,  66 ;  confederacy,  62 

Kentucky,  fertile  land  of,  95 ;  life  in,  uncertain,  96. 

Keokuk,  Indian  chief,  148. 

Knights  of  Golden  Circle,  depredations  by,  217. 

Knox  College,  opened,  197. 

Knox  County,  (see  county). 

L. 

Labor  Troubles,  menacing,  235 ;  serious,  240. 
LaFayette,  visit  of,  181. 

Lake,  Michigan,  boundary  of  State,  122;  Ontario,  34; 
Superior,  region  of,  19. 


INDEX  269 

La  Salle,  claims  discovery,  35;  discovered  coal,  129;  life 
a  tradedy,  44;  untimely  death  influenced  fate  of  New 
France,  43. 

La  Salle  Coimty  (see  county). 

La  Pointe  du  Esprit,  Allonez's  mission,  19. 

Law,  first  school  mentioned,  216;  with  compulsory  clauses, 
238;  child  labor,  243;  general  primary,  244;  little  ballot, 
243;  local  option,  244;  primary  election,  243. 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  brought  home,  164;  candidate  for 
United  States  senator,  155;  contrasted  with  Douglas, 
160;  Douglas  debate,  162;  lost  speech,  158;  nominated 
for  president,  163;  question  asked  Douglas,  161. 

Live  Stock  Commission,  created,  235. 

Local  Option  Law,  244. 

Logan,  John  A.,  brave  soldier,  218;  choice  for  president, 
234. 

London  Company,  claims  shared  with  other  nations,  56. 

Lords  of  Trade,  letter  written  to,  71. 

Lovejoy,  Elijah  P.,  the  abolitionist,  150;  killed  at  Alton, 
195. 

Lovejoy,  Owen,  at  Bloomington  convention,  157. 


M. 

Madison  County  (see  county). 

Mariette,  Ohio,  seat  of  government  of  northwest  territory, 
111. 

Marquette,  Rev.  James  Father,  ascended  Illinois  River,  8 
letter  to  his  Rev.  Father  Superior,  20;  appointed  by 
Father  Dablon  to  accompany  Joliet,  21;  established 
mission,  41;  Indians  found,  by  62;  followed  to  mission 
by  Father  Allonez,  64;  boundary  of  country  as  found 
by,  68. 

Massac  Fort,  starting  point  for  Clark's  march,  98. 

Mas  sac  Rebellion,  mentioned,  200. 

Massacre,  Fort  Dearborn,  (see  Dearborn  and  Fort),  Fort 
Niagara,  mentioned,  78. 

Matte  son,  Joel  A.,  tenth  governor,  204;  unexpected  condi- 
dacy  for  U.  S.  senator,  225. 

Maumee  River,  mentioned,  77. 

McCarty,  commandant  at  Fort  Chartres,  78. 

McLean,  John,  candidate  for  cpngress,  142;  of  the  pro- 
slavery  party,  174, 


270  DECISIVE  DATES 

McLean  County  (see  county). 

McKendree  College,  incorporated,  195. 

Menard,  Rev.  Father,  established  mission  on  Lake  Superior, 

19. 
Menard,  Pierre,  first  Lieutenant-Governor,  174;  residence, 

frontispiece,  242. 

Miami  Indians,  foot  note,  81;  at  Fort  Wayne,   114. 
Miamies,  went  to  trading  post  at  La  Pointe  du  Esprit,  19. 
Michigan,  mentioned,  68. 
Michiganians,  mentioned,  62. 
Michilimacana,  mentioned,  16;  Joliet  and  Marquette  left 

mission,  22;  Marquette  to  return  to,  33. 
Mission,  Immaculate  Conception  of  Virgin  Mary,  31;  La 

Pointe  du  esprit  or  the  Holy  Ghost,  St.  Ignatius,  22. 
Mississippi  River,  mentioned,   14;   first   mention  of,  20; 

mouth  but  ten  days  distant,  29;  name  never  changed, 

33;  La  Salle's  colony  missed  mouth,  43;  Indians  escaped 

to,  66. 

Missouri  Compromise,  repealed,  154. 
Mob  Law,  mentioned,  200. 
Mobile,  mentioned,  45. 
Montreal,  when  built,  1 5 ;  Joliet's  boat  capsized  in  sight  of, 

34;  good  trading  post,  56. 
Morris,  battle  at,  66. 

Mound,  Cahokia,  1 1 ;  Monks,  1 1 ;  Turtle,  1 1 . 
Mormons,  mentioned,  200. 
Mounds,  origin  unknown,  11. 
Mound  Builders,  origin  entire  conjecture,  16. 
Municipal  Civil  Service  Law,  adopted,  240. 

N. 

Nassau,  N.  Y.,  mentioned,  69. 

Nebraska  Bill,  mentioned,  154;  Douglas  supported,  162. 
New  Design,  mentioned,  150. 

New  England,  mentioned,  53;  anti-slavery  views  from,  150. 
New  France,  mentioned,  15;  could  afford  to  ignore  other 

claims,  45;  mentioned,  53;  became  British  possessions, 

95. 

New  Netherlands,  mentioned,  53. 
New  Orleans,  seat  of  government  of  New  France,  45. 
New  Spain,  mentioned,  53;  boundaries  of,  58. 


INDEX  271 

Niagara,  attacked,  72. 

Niagara  Falls,  Aubry  met  troops  at,  77. 

Normans  Kill,  mentioned,  69. 

Normal  School  (see  State  Normal  School),  Eastern,  240; 

Northern,  240;  Western,  242. 
Northern  Illinois,  a  wilderness,  113. 
Northwest,  purchased  from  Iroquois,  68. 
Northwest  Territory,  bounded,   110;  Virginia  ceded  claim 

to,  138;  division  of,  139. 

0. 

Ohio,  mentioned,  68. 

Ohio  Company,  mentioned,  74. 

Ohio  River,  mentioned,  35;  northern  boundary  of  United 
States,  95-103;  George  Rogers  Clark,  trip  down,  97. 

Ohio  Indians,  joined  Aubry,  77. 

Ogle  County,  (see  county). 

Oglesby,  Hon.  Richard  J.,  fourteenth  governor,  219;  six- 
teenth governor,  227;  twenty-first  governor,  235. 

Okaw  River,  mentioned,  42. 

Onondaga,  conference  of  Indians,  at,  71. 

Orange,  Albany,  N.  Y.,  66. 

Ottawa,  first  Lincoln-Douglas  debate  held  at,  160. 

Ottawa  Confederacy,  Indians  forming,  72. 

Ottawa  Chief,  Pontiac,  85. 

P. 

Pacific  Ocean,  South  sea,  29. 

Palmer,  Hon.  John  M .,  fifteenth  governor,  223. 

Paris,  mentioned,  21. 

Peace  Convention,  reference  to,  214. 

Peace  Congress,  mentioned,  225. 

Peoria,  tribe  of  Illini,  62;  mentioned,  66. 

Penitentiary,  at  Alton,  186;  at  Joliet,  209. 

Pennsylvania,  French  Creek  ii>,  77. 

Penotomy,  confederacy  of  Indians,  65. 

Penotomies,  Indians  of  the  Penotomy  confederacy,  65. 

Piasa  Bird,  note,  81. 

Point  St.  Ignace,  mission  on  Island  of  Mackinaw,  22. 

Pontiac,  mentioned,  65;  an  Ottawa  chief,  85. 


272  DECISIVE  DATES 

Pontiac's  Conspiracy,  to  save  America  to  redman,  86; 
treaty  with  Croghan,  note,  90;  death,  note,  91, 

Pope,  Nathaniel,  delegate  to  congress  for  the  Illinois 
territory,  121;  bound  the  east  and  west,  123;  led  anti- 
slavery  sentiment,  174. 

Pope  County  (see  county). 

Portage,  carrying  place,  22;  Aubry's  route,  77. 

Portage  City,  Wisconsin,  23. 

Pottery,  found  in  mounds,  10. 

Pottawatomies,  mentioned,  19;  at  Fort  Dearborn,  116. 

Prairie  du  Rocher,  mentioned,  44. 

Presque  Isle,  route  of  Aubry,  77. 

Pure  Food,  legislation,  232. 

Prison  Parole  System,  adopted,  240. 

Primary  Election  Law,  243-244. 

Q. 

Quebec,  founded  by  Champlain,  15  ;  Frontenac,  governor  of, 

21;  Joliet  returned  to,  33;  Frontenac,  writing  from,  34; 

La  Salle,  returned  to,  41 ;  made  a  good  trading  post,  56; 

province  of,  89. 
Quincy,  sixth  Lincoln-Douglas  debate  had  at,  162;  John 

Wood   put   up   first   cabin,    213;   soldiers'    and   sailors' 

home  located,  235. 

R. 

Railroad  Strikes,  in  parts  of  Illinois,  231. 

Randolph  County  (see  county). 

Renault,  Phillippi,  mentioned,  45;  brought  African  slaves 

to  French  settlements,  138. 
Republican  National  Convention,   in    1884;     in    1888   (see 

convention). 

Revolution,  War  of,  mentioned,  69. 
Reynolds,  Hon.    John,   mentioned,    148;   fourth   governor 

187. 

Rock  in  Illinois  River,  42;  mentioned,  66. 
Rockford,  mound  found  at  site  of,  11. 
Rogers,  Major  Robert,  sent  to  tell  of  surrender  of  Canada 

85. 

Romance,  period  of,  87. 
Russel  Camp,  organized  at  Edwardsville,  116. 


INDEX  273 

5. 

Sachem,  of  the  Illini,  26. 
Sackville,  Fort,  (see  Fort). 
Sacs,    mentioned,  19. 

Sagamity,  presented  to  Marquette,  28;  corn  raised  for,  46. 
Saline,  pottery  found  in,  10;  sale  of  land  in  saline  reserve, 

203. 
Salt  Works,  near  Danville,  128;  near  Shawneetown,  140; 

Hargrave,  general  inspector  of,  141. 

Sault  Ste.  Marie,  as  far  west'  as,  16. 
School  Law,  women  allowed  to  hold   office  under,   229; 

anti-trust,    238. 
Senecas,  appeal  from,  67. 
Seneca  Chief,  answer  to  appeal,  70. 
Seventeenth  Century,  French  settlement,  43. 
Seven  Years'  War  (see  War). 
Shawnees,  came  to  visit  Illini,  20;  Iroquois  made  war  upon, 

61;  at  Onondago,  71. 

Shawneetown,  salt  works  near,  141;  John  McLean  of,  142. 
Shields,  Hon.  James,  mentioned,  155. 
Shurtleff  College,  incorporated,  195. 
Silver    Covenant    Chain,  Indians'    name    for    treaty,    69; 

strength    of    70;    nations    bound    with,    73;    Sir.    Wm. 

Johnson's  use  of  (foot  note),  80. 
Six  United  Nations,  (see  Iroquois),  faithful  to  British,  71; 

troops  of  British  joined  to,  72;  convention  of,  78. 
Slaves,  African,  brought  by  Renault,  138. 
Slavery,  African,  extension  of,  154. 
Slavery  Question,  all  absorbing  topic,  141. 
Slave  States,  to  west  and  south,  153. 

Soldiers'  and  Sailors'  Home,  State,  located  at  Quincy,  235. 
South  Bend,  direction  of  Spanish  troops,  112. 
Smith,  Joseph,  killed  by  mob,  200. 
Soldiers'  Orphans'  Home,  located,  222. 
Spain,  permanent  settlements  made  by,  54. 
Spanish  Settlement,  of  St.  Louis,  42. 
Spanish  Domains,  comprised,  54. 
Spanish  Invasion,  of  state,  111. 
Springfield,  the  capital  of  state,  195. 
Starved  Rock,  in  IlHni  River,  42. 
State  Board  of  Arbitration,  established,  240. 

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276  DECISIVE  DATES 

Wigwam,  Lincoln  nominated  in,  163. 

Williamsburg,  George  Washington  sent  from,  74;  County 
of  Kentucky  a  long  way  from,  96. 

Winnebago  Indians,  war  with,  185. 

Winnebago  County,  (see  County^. 

Wisconsin,  making  a  state,  124 

Wisconsin  River,  Joliet  and  Maiquette  followed,  22. 

Wisconsin  Territory,  Governor  of,  efforts  to  restore  boun- 
dary, 123. 

Wood,  Hon.  John,  twelfth  Goveinor,  213. 

World's  Columbian  Exposition,  (see  Columbian  Exposition) 

Y 

Yates,  Hon.  Richard,  thirteenth  Governor,  215. 
Yates,  Hon.  Richard,  twenty-fifth  Governor,  242. 


